She's Having My Baby
by JenCamp
Summary: After Col. O'Neill's runin with the asgaard, Loki, Sam finds herself pregnant and no idea how. SJ. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

**She's Having My Baby**

a/n: This story takes place shortly after season 7's episode, Fragile Balance.

disclaimer: Stargate is not mine and I do this for non-profit entertainment purposes only.

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Sam woke up from a dead sleep with an intense urge to vomit. Her eyes popped open and she ripped the covers off of her and rushed to the bathroom. She just barely got the seat up when she spewed the contents of her stomach into the toilet. After a few minutes of bowing to the porcelain god, Sam flushed the toilet and laid back against the wall. She was exhausted from her morning session of throwing-up. "God, what the hell is wrong with me?"she muttered to herself. This had become her morning ritual for the last three weeks, and she was seriously wondering how it was possible for the flu to last this long.

Two hours later had a very sick-looking Carter walking into the infirmary to ask Janet for something to calm her stomach.

"Oh, my, Sam, you don't look so good!" Janet exclaimed as Sam made her way over to her. Sam's face was pale, which made her blue eyes seem twice as bright as normal. Her eyelids were slightly red, and hollows appeared under her eyes.

One of the patients in the infirmary was eating his breakfast, and when the smell of eggs hit Sam's nose, her face blanched even more. She quickly looked around for something to catch what she was about to vomit. Her eyes landed on a small trash can close by and she grabbed it.

Sam, who had nothing in her stomach after her morning puke-fest, threw up yellow, foul-tasting stomach acid. The acid burned her throat and caused her eyes to water. Janet walked over to Sam and started massaging her back while Sam fought to regain control of her bodily functions.

"Sam, you shouldn't still be sick from the flu. I'm going to need to hook you up to an IV and get a blood draw, sweetie," Janet sympathetically said to her friend. Sam could only, weakly, shake her head and allow Janet to help her onto an infirmary bed.

Several hours later had Col. Jack O'Neill entering the infirmary to check on his sick 2IC. "Hey, Carter, I heard Doc Frasier had you locked up in here for the day," he said as he made his way over to her bed and plopped down in one of the chairs.

"Hi, sir. I guess that bug I caught a few weeks back is a real fighter," she responded weakly, but trying to sound cheery. She had been in the infirmary all day and was happy to have some company besides Janet and Lt. Richards, who was incredibly grouchy due to his two broken legs.

"Well, you'd better beat this thing soon, major, the scientists are going through Carter-withdrawal," Jack replied jokingly.

Sam laughed. The image of Felger needing to get his Carter-fix popped into her head and she laughed harder. "Well, I see my job here is done," Jack said, smiling proudly at putting Sam into a good mood and bringing some color back to her cheeks.

"Yes, sir, thank-you, sir. Apparently, I just needed my colonel-fix."

The words were out of her mouth before she realized what she was saying, and as soon as she did, the color that had appeared on her face, was gone again. Her face went completely pale at the implications of her words.

Jack, taken aback at Carter's bluntness, felt his face redden and realized his mouth was hanging open. 'What the hell did she mean by that,' he thought to himself. The two had become quite close in the past year, finally getting over their awkwardness around each other after the za'tarc incident a few years back. But they still never talked about their feelings for each other. In fact, they had both become so good at hiding their feelings that they both were unsure where the other stood on the whole 'feelings' issue.

"Uh, I didn't mean that like it sounded, sir," Sam finally broke the silence, trying to bring them both back to normal states.

"Ack, Carter, I knew what you meant," Jack replied, waving his hands in an attempt to hide his awkwardness. "You need me around to crack jokes and brighten your otherwise, completely-boring-to-the-point-of-rather-being-dead day."

Sam laughed again. "Yes, sir."

Just then, Janet came walking up to Sam's bed with a file in her hands and a concerned look upon her face. Sam saw the look on her face and her heart dropped into her stomach. "What is it, Janet?"

Janet looked up at Sam with her big brown eyes. Then, she turned to Jack, "Colonel, could I have a moment with Major Carter, please?"

"Of course." Jack replied, quietly. He also didn't miss the look on Dr. Frasier's face and was now more concerned than ever for his friend.

"Uh, it's ok, Janet, I actually would rather have him stay. Whatever you tell me now, I'm going to have to tell him anyways, he is my CO," Sam said, somewhat anxiously. She was worried what Janet was going to say, and felt the overwhelming urge to have Jack with her.

"Are you sure?" they both asked simultaneously.

Sam looked at them both for a moment. She could see the worried look in the colonel's eyes and knew she wanted him there with her. "Yeah, I'm sure," she answered.

"Well," Janet began. She looked worriedly from the colonel back to Sam, not knowing exactly how to tell them what the results were. "Sam, honey, I don't know how you're going to take this but……Honey, you're pregnant."

"WHAT?" Jack and Sam both exclaimed..

"Janet, that's impossible, your test is wrong. You need to retest me. There is no way," Sam rambled.

"Honey, I ran the tests three times. They were all conclusive……But, just to be sure, I'm going to do an ultrasound."

"Janet, you don't understand…," Sam stopped what she was saying and looked over at Jack, all of a sudden feeling overwhelmingly embarrassed to have him there. "Janet, I haven't been with anyone……in a long time," she finished, putting her head down as her cheeks flushed in embarrassment, not wanting to see Jack's face at her confession.

Janet looked slightly dumbstruck. When she first got the test results, she didn't believe them herself. Sam was her best friend, and she was a little offended that she hadn't told her she had met someone. "Well, let's do the ultrasound, so if you're not pregnant, we can rule it out and go from there."

Sam nodded and Janet headed out of the room to retrieve the machine.

Half an hour later had Sam hooked up to the machine and an audience of men hovering in the infirmary. At the announcement of Sam's possible immaculate conception, the rest of her team and General Hammond had come down to see the results of the ultrasound. "Well, let's get started then, shall we," Janet said, trying to sound as enthusiastic as she could.

Sam, just shrugged her shoulders and smiled weakly. She really wanted to know what the heck was going on with her body. The ultrasound machine showed a little alien-looking creature and a noise permeated from the speaker. "What's that noise?"she asked.

Janet looked at the screen for a few more seconds before answering her. "_That_, is your baby's heartbeat."

"How?" Sam breathed, staring at the screen in disbelief.

"I don't know, sweetie," Janet replied, sympathetically. "But, from the looks of this, you are approximately 10 weeks pregnant."

"Is, is…it human?" Sam asked quietly, her blue eyes wide in wonder as she gazed at the screen.

"It is," Janet replied. "At least from what I can tell it is. It looks exactly like a 10 week old fetus is supposed to look."

"How?" Sam asked again.

"I don't know, hon," Janet answered her. She knew Sam was in a little bit of shock over this new development. "We will have to wait a few weeks, but then, we can do an amniocentesis and get more information."

Sam just shook her head in agreement, her eyes still locked on the screen.

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The next few weeks, Sam's puking-fest wore off and she started craving weird combinations of food. Jack, Daniel and Teal'c were constantly finding themselves talked into running to the grocery store to pick up Sam's newest food interest. The day of the amnio soon arrived and Sam was incredibly worried. In the past week she had felt fluttering in her stomach and when she questioned Janet about it, Janet informed her that it was the baby moving. Now, every time she felt the fluttering, her hand immediately moved to her abdomen, and she felt herself falling in love with the little creation growing inside her.

The procedure was closed off to non-essential personnel. So, SG-1 and General Hammond had to spend the time pacing the hallway outside of the Operating Room.

After what, to Jack at least, seemed like forever. Janet poked her head out of the door and assured the men that everything went fine and Sam would be taken to one of the isolation rooms to rest while they waited on the results of the amnio. The four men decided to let Sam rest for a little bit, and went to get lunch before invading her peace in the iso room.

Normal results on an amnio, generally take weeks. But, in the United States Air Force, they don't have the time to wait. And, with the benefit of the Stargate Program, they didn't need to. So, the lab results were done right there at Cheyenne Mountain by a few of the best specialists in the world. And, a few hours after the procedure was done, the specialists handed all results over to one, impatient Dr. Frasier.

Once Janet had reviewed the results, she paged General Hammond and immediately headed to Sam's room. She wasn't surprised to see all of SG-1 already there keeping Sam company. "Results back, Doc?" Jack asked, somewhat nervously.

"Yes, sir, I have them right here. I'm just waiting on the general," Janet responded, patting the file in her hand and smiling at Sam, who looked unbelievably nervous in her position on the bed

"Well, I'm here, so let's get on with it," the general's voice sounded as he made his way into the room and stood at the end of Sam's bed.

"Well," Janet started, now feeling just as nervous as Sam looked. "The results are conclusive, the baby is 100 percent human." Janet stopped for a minute to gauge everyone's expressions before she continued. She really didn't want to say the next part, but, her job would be on the line if she withheld it. "The specialists even ran a DNA scan on the fetus….Sam, you are definitely this baby's mother………Uh, the specialists ran the baby's DNA against all DNA we have here on file and were able to identify the father of the baby." Janet felt her cheeks flush as she looked at each person in the room.

"Well, doctor, who's the father?" General Hammond finally asked.

"Um, well, sir, the results show that the father of Major Carter's baby is…….ah," Janet looked around the room again, trying to come up with some reason not to say the name at the tip of her tongue. Everyone in the room appeared to be 'at the edge of their seats' awaiting Janet's announcement. "It's Colonel O'Neill, sir."

"WHAT?" Everyone, excluding Teal'c, exclaimed simultaneously.

"The baby has the DNA of Major Carter and Col. O'Neill. The results are conclusive, you can see for yourselves," Janet hurriedly stated, handing the file over to General Hammond.

General Hammond skimmed the papers in his hand and, with a very beet-red face, looked up fuming at Col. O'Neill. "Care to explain this, Colonel," the general demanded, his voice calm, yet laced with venom.

Jack looked at the general with obvious fear and confusion in his eyes. He couldn't believe this was happening. HOW could this happen? Replying with the first thing he could get out of his mouth, Jack screeched, "I swear, sir, I never touched her!"


	2. Chapter 2

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"COLONEL O'NEILL," the general started, but was interrupted by Sam.

"Sir, Col. O'Neill is telling the truth. We have NEVER been together….sir," she added sheepishly at the end.

"How is that possible?" the general asked, his anger still leveling off at a 10 on the anger scale.

"That's what I've been asking for weeks, sir," Sam exclaimed. "I don't know HOW I got pregnant! I don't know HOW Col O'Neill is the father and I don't know HOW these sort of things always end up happening to ME!"

Everyone in the room just looked at Sam after her unexpected outburst. No one really knew quite what to say after it. Finally, Daniel, who had been uncharacteristically quiet up until this point, broke the silence. "You know guys, I'm pretty sure 10 weeks ago, Jack was on that ship with Loki and we were all trying to figure out who Mini Jack was.

This caused a few small gasps in the room. If Jack was, indeed, on Loki's ship, then he had a pretty darn good alibi, right? Of course, that brought out all sorts of other possibilities. And, these possibilities were now running through everyone else's heads.

Teal'c, surprisingly enough, was the first one to voice the one possibility that everyone seemed to be thinking, but no one wanted to say. "DanielJackson, do you believe that O'Neill's clone fathered Major Carter's child?"

"WHAT?" Jack and Sam yelped together.

"I am merely stating that, if, O'Neill was aboard Loki's ship…."

"No, Teal'c," Sam interrupted. "That's not….no….he….I….TEAL'C! DAMN IT! That's just not possible!" Sam squawked out in obvious agitation.

"Major," General Hammond began in a much calmer voice. "Is it at all possible that Col. O'Neill's clone is the father?"

"NO!" Jack and Sam both loudly replied. Sam glared over at Jack, mentally cursing him to shut-up.

"No, sir, absolutely not, no." Sam continued.

"Sir, if I may?" Janet piped up, looking at the general for permission to speak.

General Hammond nodded his head at her.

"Col. O'Neill's clone had a slight anomaly in his DNA. The anomalie doesn't appear in the baby's DNA. I don't believe the clone could be the father."

"So, we're back to the baby being Jack's," Daniel announced. He almost sounded like he was getting excited over the idea of Sam and Jack having a baby. Sam and Jack both glared at the cheerful archaeologist.

"Sir," Jack started, looking over at General Hammond. "Carter and I have never done anything…..nothing…..sir, I have no idea how this happened, but I bet anything that sneaky, no-good, son of a b……..hmmm, asgaard, Loki, has something to do with this."

"Doctor?" General Hammond looked over at Janet wanting her opinion on Jack's accusation.

"Well, sir, the asgaard do have the technology to do something like this….and the dates do match up," she announced.

"SEE!" Jack shrieked, quite happy that, at the moment, Janet was agreeing with him.

"Well, people, we're going to need to get a hold of the asgaard and see if they have any explanation ……Until we get some answers to all this, SG-1, you're all on downtime. Colonel, I expect you to take this time to get your backlog of paperwork done," Hammond finished.

"Yes, sir," Jack replied in the happiest voice he could get out, with thoughts of doing paperwork running through his head.

General Hammond started to walk out of the room, but then suddenly stopped and turned back around to face Jack. He stood there scrutinizing Jack for a few seconds and then began shaking his head. "How the hell am I supposed to explain THIS to the president?" he muttered, more to himself, but loud enough that everyone in the room heard.

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It was two weeks later before Thor finally made his appearance at the SGC. Word, by way of the SGC grapevine warned people to stay as far away from Col. O'Neill as possible. Two weeks cooped up in his office had not done good things for his demeanor.

In fact, the only time he appeared happy was the few minutes he had each day sharing meals in the commissary with his team. So, needless to say, when SG-1 was paged to General Hammond's office, Jack went running with 'a smile on his face' and a 'bounce in his step.'

Jack was, surprisingly, the last one to reach Hammond's office and wasn't too surprised to see his favorite little grey alien standing next to the general's desk. "O'Neill, it is good to see you once again," Thor greeted as Jack made his way into the office and closed the door.

"Thor, buddy, how've you been?" Jack asked in the usual chipper way he always greets Thor.

"I have been most disappointed in the actions of Loki, O'Neill," Thor replied.

"So, it was Loki then?" Jack asked before anyone else in the room got the chance.

"It was," was Thor's simple reply.

"Why?……And how?" Sam asked, looking down at Thor from her position in one of the chairs in front of the general's desk.

"Major Carter, Loki beamed you up to his ship the same night he beamed up O'Neill. He extracted, what you refer to as semen, from O'Neill and reproductive eggs from you. He then combined the most superior of these specimen and deposited the result back into your womb."

"And, what was the reason for doing this, Thor?" General Hammond asked.

"Col. O'Neill and Major Carter are highly praised among the asgaard. A child with the combination of Col. O'Neill and Major Carter's genes would be….very promising," Thor stated.

"PROMISING? WHY THE HELL ARE YOU PEOPLE ALWAYS SCREWING WITH OUR LIVES? DON'T YOU THINK IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN CARTER'S CHOICE, WHEN AND IF SHE WANTED TO HAVE A BABY? YOU KNOW, WE HAVE OUR OWN WAY OF MAKING BABIES! DID YOU GUYS ONCE…EVER… THINK THAT MAYBE CARTER WANTED TO MAKE HER OWN BABY? DID YOU GUYS EVEN ASK HER IF SHE WANTED A BABY? I KNOW YOU NEVER BOTHERED ASKING ME! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW STRESSED OUT CARTER'S BEEN BECAUSE OF LOKI'S DUMBASS MEDDLING?" O'Neill would have continued yelling at the little alien, but, his face had turned a deep shade of red and he needed to stop to breathe.

"Uh-hum, Thor, what Jack's trying to say," Daniel began in his best diplomatic voice. "Is having a baby isn't a small thing. It's more of a life-changing thing. Loki should never have done what he did. Especially not without talking to Sam and Jack first."

"I understand. Major Carter and O'Neill have every right to be angry and I assure you, the asgaard would never condone such behavior. Loki is being punished as we speak," Thor stated in his normal calm voice, not even phased by O'Neill's outburst.

Thor then turned his attention to Sam. "Major Carter, if you do not wish to have this child, I can remove it immediately from your womb…"

"NO!" Sam burst out, cutting off the alien's speech. She looked at Thor in total shock and placed her hand over her abdomen, protectively. "That's not necessary, I never planned on this child, and it wasn't created in the conventional way, but, it's mine, and I plan on keeping it."

Although everyone's attention was on Sam, if anyone would have looked over at Jack, they would have seen an incredible look of relief cross over his face at Sam's acceptance of their child.

"Very well, Major Carter. Again, I apologize for Loki's actions and I hope this does not interfere with our friendship," Thor replied, once again in his normal, monotone voice.

"Of course not, Thor," Sam responded before realizing it really wasn't her place. She looked over at the general who only nodded his head in agreement.


	3. Chapter 3

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"Well, Major," Hammond began once Thor had beamed himself back to his ship. "In light of recent events, I see no other choice but to remove you permanently from SG-1."

"Yes, sir," Sam responded.

"Sir, permanently? Is that really necessary?" Jack began, but was cut off by the general.

"Yes, Colonel. It_is_ necessary," he retorted. Your second-in-command is pregnant with_your_ child! Regardless of how that came about, air force regulations still apply. I can not allow the two of you to continue working on the same team."

"I understand, sir," Sam responded, obedient as normal.

"Sir," Jack tried arguing again.

"Jack!" The general growled. "Major Carter is going to be reassigned to the labs for the duration of her pregnancy. After the baby is born, _Major Carter_ will decide when and if she wants to return to a field unit_. Understood_?"

"Yes, sir," Jack replied, lowering his eyes in defeat.

"Good! DISMISSED," the general announced as he stood up waiting for the group to leave his office.

"Sir," Sam turned to Jack after they had left Hammond's office. "I appreciate what you were trying to do in there, but I really am okay about being taken off of SG-1."

"But…Why, Carter? You love being on SG-1. We need you!….We could fight this, y'know. The five of us could give Hammond a good run for his money."

"I know, thank you, sir, but, it isn't necessary. I'm….. not going to be returning to a field unit," Sam stated, adjusting her gaze from Jack to an unknown spot over his shoulder.

"WHAT? Carter, but, why?" Jack stuttered in disbelief.

"Sir," she said, looking at him again. "I know what it's like to lose a mother at a young age." Sam, averted her gaze to that spot over his shoulder again. "I…don't want my baby….._our_ baby, ever having to know that pain, sir."

"Carter," Jack said in a lower voice. He could tell Sam was sad at the thought of her mother's death and wanted to comfort her, but, unfortunately, Jack was never very good at comforting people. Instead, he stood there, shifting from foot-to-foot, trying to think of something to say.

"It's okay, sir. I'm okay. Thank you," Sam saved him from his discomfort. "Uh, I think I'm going to go and get something to eat…..Care to join me?" Sam motioned with her hands towards the elevators.

Jack stared at Sam like he wanted to say something important to her. Instead, he shook the look off his face and replied, "Yeah, sounds good. Let's go."

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"So," Jack started, looking up at Sam, who was finishing off his chocolate cake. "Now that we know _how_ you got pregnant with my child, we should probably….talk."

"What do you want to talk about?" Sam responded. She knew, but was trying to put this conversation off for as long as she could.

"You know," was his only response as he caught Sam's gaze and held it to confirm his seriousness. "We need to figure this….out. The sooner, the better."

"Well, sir, you heard my intentions. I'm keeping this baby. What are yours?" she quickly asked, maintaining eye-contact. She didn't want to miss any looks that crossed his face. It was important that she knew exactly where he stood in this whole mess.

"Uh, let's see," Jack smirked. "I guess my intentions are to……marry you, move you into my house, raise our child, buy you a mini-van…"

Sam started choking on cake.

"Okay, so that might be rushing things a little," Jack laughed as he handed Sam a napkin.

"Sir?" Sam asked.

"Carter, I have every intention in sticking with you through this whole thing," Jack stated seriously looking deep into Carter's eyes. "I plan on being there for you and our baby, always."

"Thank you, sir," was all Sam could get out. She was trying desperately to hold the tears back that she could feel building in her eyes. 'Damn hormones!'

"You okay?" Jack asked, noticing the look on Sam's face.

"I'm fine," she replied wiping away the tear that had slipped out and was running down her cheek.

"So," Jack asked smiling, trying to lighten the mood, once again. He rubbed his hands together and leaned back slightly in his chair. "When are we going baby shopping?"

At this, Sam smiled. She knew her life now was never going to be the same. Being on SG-1 had been the center of her life for almost 7 years now and she knew she would miss it desperately. However, rubbing her stomach and looking over at Jack, who was trying to keep from falling over in his chair, as he had leaned back too far and was losing his balance, Sam had a sudden premonition that her life was going to be getting a whole lot better.


	4. Chapter 4

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Samantha Carter was pissed. She had been tossing and turning for the past two hours trying to get to sleep with no success. Normally, a simple case of insomnia would not be enough to infuriate the even-tempered major. However, these were not normal circumstances.

It was only a few short hours ago she was in her lab working diligently on a device SG-12 had brought back through the gate, when, without warning, Sam fell asleep. It was totally unexpected and completely out-of-character for the officer. She was typing a description of the device into the computer when her eyes closed and her head drooped at an unnatural angle.

She probably would have continued sleeping in that position for several hours if it hadn't been for Jack walking into Sam's lab only minutes later. He was coming to check on her and kick her out of her lab for the night. At the sight of Sam sleeping in an upright position, Jack stopped and let out a small laugh. After completely burning the sight of his sleeping major into his head, he quietly walked up behind her and whispered in her ear. "Carter, you're drooling."

The words went unheard by Sam, but, the feel of his breath on her ear and neck was enough to make Sam jump up out of her seat, head-butting Jack right in the chin.

"OW!" Jack yelped, holding his chin in his hands.

"Sir, what are you doing?" Sam asked sleepily.

"Getting injured apparently!" Jack snapped, still holding his chin.

"Sorry, sir," Sam said, lowering her head in embarrassment.

"S'okay, Carter, I came to kick you out of here to get some sleep, but I see you were already doing that," Jack announced, crossing his arms across his chest and smirking.

"God!" Sam exclaimed as she blinked her eyes a few times trying to wake herself up more. "I am completely exhausted!"

"Well, you are definitely not driving yourself home," Jack replied in his 'I'm-the-colonel-and-you-have-to-do-what-I-say voice.' "As I see it, you have two options here, Carter….I can drive you home, or you can stay the night on base."

The thought of spending the night on base was not appealing at all to the pregnant woman, so she opted for the lift home. "You can drive me home sir, as tired as I feel, the only thing I want is my bed," She weakly announced as she turned off her equipment and headed for the door.

Jack had driven Sam to her house, helped her inside, made sure she didn't need anything, and then headed home himself. Sam, even after all she had been through in her life, had never felt so unbelievably exhausted. Her body was screaming at her to collapse anywhere and sleep the night away. She sluggishly locked the door behind Jack, slipped on her night clothes and dragged herself into her big, warm bed. And, that is where she had been for the past two hours WIDE AWAKE!

"Erggh," Sam growled, angrily throwing the covers off of her and getting out of bed. She used the bathroom again, for the tenth time that evening, and then padded into the kitchen.

Opening up the freezer, Sam's eyes locked on a box of ice cream. "Hmm, that sounds good," she said to herself, smiling and grabbing the container out of its home. However, Sam's joy was short-lived when she opened the lid and discovered only two bites left of the delicious confection.

"Damn," Sam cursed to herself as she gulped down the two bites and scooped what she could off the sides. After tossing the empty container into the trash, Sam went back to the refrigerator and rummaged around trying to find something to quench her craving. Coming up empty-handed, she next tried the cupboards, but came out with the same results. "Damn, damn, damn," she cursed again.

After an hour of pacing her house, Sam's craving only intensified, as did her anger over the whole darn predicament. Finally giving in to her stomach, Sam did the only thing she could think of….she called the father of her baby.

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Jack had gone straight home after dropping Sam off at her house. Originally planning on drinking a beer or two and enjoying a few hours of channel-surfing, Jack found himself quite tired shortly after arriving home, and headed off to bed earlier than normal. He was blissfully dozing in dream world when the screeching sound of his phone pounded into his ears and woke him up. Jack reached over and snatched the phone up off the receiver. "Yeah!" was his only greeting.

"Sir, hi. Did I wake you?" Sam asked innocently into the phone.

"What?….Carter?…What?..Yes…uh, no…I mean yeah, uh, I was sleeping," Jack croaked out, not quite sure what he said.

"Oh, I'm sorry, sir."

"S'okay, Carter…..uh, what did you need?" he asked, starting to wake up a little more.

"I couldn't sleep," Sam announced.

"Oh, sorry to hear that," Jack replied….. "So," he continued after a few seconds of silence. "Did you call to see if I was having the same problem?"

"What?" Sam asked in confusion.

"Nothing, Carter….So, did you try counting sheep?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

"Sir?"

"Sheep, Carter! You know, one sheep, two sheep, red sheep, blue sheep," Jack casually replied.

"Ah, sir, I believe that's fish," Sam stated.

"Carter, I think I would know if you're supposed to count fish," Jack innocently responded.

"No, sir, ah…," Sam thought about explaining the difference between counting sheep and Dr. Seuss and decided she really didn't want to waste the time. "Never mind, sir."

"Okay," Jack answered, still confused.

"Ah, sir. Actually, I was calling because I want ice cream," Sam bluntly announced.

"Ice cream?"

"Uh, yes, sir. See, I would go get it myself, but my car is on base."

"So, it is," Jack sighed. "What kind?"

"Sir?"

"Ice cream, Carter, what kind are you wanting?" Jack asked, a slight note of irritation in his voice.

"Uh, sir, I really didn't think you'd be sleeping yet, I don't want to drag you out of bed for a stupid craving. I can walk up to the store myself," Sam answered, embarrassment sweeping over her body.

"CARTER, you're four months pregnant! _You_ are _not _walking up to the store in the middle of the night! NOW, what KIND of ice cream do you want?"

"Ben-N-Jerry's Chocolate-chip cookie dough," Sam sheepishly answered.

"Anything else while I'm out?"

"No, sir."

"Alright, I'll be there shortly." Jack hung up the phone and then sighed heavily as he pulled himself out of his bed.

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Jack arrived back at Sam's forty-five minutes later with four grocery bags full of ice cream. Sam let him in and then, noticing all the bags, looked at him with a confused expression. "Sir?" she asked.

"Just making sure you don't run out," he replied, grinning broadly and carrying the bags to her kitchen. Sam helped by pulling the containers out of the bags while Jack made room for them all in her freezer. After he thought he had put them all in there, he turned around to see Sam eating out of three different containers.

Sam glanced up at Jack with a look of glee all over her face. "I'm so happy you bought more than one kind!" she exclaimed, while spooning another bite into her mouth. Jack couldn't help but find the sight before him hilarious and laughed out loud before grabbing a spoon and joining Sam.

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The next day, Sam realized that every part of her body was tired. Jack had insisted she go and see Janet to make sure there was nothing wrong with her. Janet assured them that being overly tired was a normal phase of pregnancy and it would lessen eventually. At hearing this, Jack declared that he would escort Sam to and from work until the exhaustion passed. Sam, who really was too tired to argue, merely nodded her head in agreement.

That night, Jack had deposited Sam at her house, and then promptly headed for the grocery store. Meandering down each aisle, Jack grabbed anything and everything he thought Sam might crave in the middle of the night. The cashier had looked at him a little funny while ringing up his two cart-loads of groceries, but Jack really didn't care.

When he arrived back at Sam's house with the load of groceries, Sam was astonished.

"Sir, this really wasn't necessary, I can't believe you bought all this," Sam exclaimed as she unpacked the groceries in her kitchen.

"No sweat, Carter. Trust me, I did it as much for me as for you," he replied, grinning ear-to-ear at Carter. Sam flashed him a dirty look and then went back to her unpacking.

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All was well for the next week. Jack would pick Sam up for work in the morning, and drop her off at home at night. He would question her about her cravings and make sure her house was completely stocked to ensure no more middle-of-the-night runs to the grocery store.

And, so, when he awoke in the middle of the night to the ringing of his phone, Jack was completely perplexed. It had registered in his head that something was going off, but, after reaching over and slapping his alarm clock, the ringing continued.

Once his bleary mind cleared enough to realize it wasn't his alarm ringing, Jack looked around for his phone. Finding it on the floor next to his bed, he picked it up and yelled, "WHAT!"

"Sir?" Sam spoke, startled by the yell.

"Carter?" Jack spoke into the phone, his voice returning to normal as he shook the sleep from his head.

"Sorry to wake you, sir," Sam quietly said.

"Can't sleep again, Carter?" Jack asked, too tired for small talk.

"Yes, sir," Sam answered. After a few seconds of silence, she continued. "My back is killing me. I was kind of hoping you could give me a ride to the base."

"Your back hurts so you want to go to the base?" Jack asked in confusion.

"Yes, sir. Teal'c gives a mean back massage….sir."

"Carter! You want me to get up, go to your house, pick you up and take you to the base so _Teal'c_ can rub your back?" Jack asked in agitation.

"Yes, sir, if you don't mind….I guess I could call the base and have them send someone to get me…," Sam rambled on.

"Carter, why can't I just rub your back?" Jack asked, cutting her off.

"Well sir, I didn't want to inconvenience you."

"CARTER! Don't you think its less of an inconvenience for me to come over and rub your back myself rather than taking you all the way to the base to have _Teal'c_ do it?"

"Oh, I suppose sir, if you don't mind. I guess I just didn't want to make you uncomfortable," Sam stuttered out.

"No problem, Carter," Jack stated as he pulled himself out of bed. "See you soon."

**------------------------------------------- **

Jack arrived at Sam's house a few minutes later, and after positioning himself on the couch and Sam on the floor between his legs, he began massaging her back and shoulders.

"Hmmm, sir, that feels soooo good," Sam moaned.

"Carter!" Jack croaked. "Absolutely NO MOANING while I'm doing this, understood?"

"Yes, sir," Sam laughed. "But, don't forget, I was going to have Teal'c do this."

"Please, Carter! You moaning with Teal'c is not an image I want to imagine," Jack whined.

Sam laughed again. "Yes, sir."

"You know," Jack started after a good half an hour of massaging her back. "I was thinking."

"Really, sir, I'm impressed," Sam joked.

"Ha, ha, Carter," ack dryly replied.

"Sorry, sir…."What were you thinking?" she asked, trying to be forgiven.

"I was thinking….." Jack started. "That maybe you should come stay with me for the rest of your pregnancy."

"Why?" Sam asked, surprised. Her heart beginning to race in her chest.

"Because my place is bigger," he replied, gulping back his nervousness.

"Jack, why do you want me to stay with you?" Sam asked again, her voice hoarse in nervousness.

The fact that Sam had used his first name did not go unnoticed by Jack. "Well, with all these weird things happening to your body, it's probably best that you not be alone at night," Jack quickly responded, trying to sell Sam on the idea.

Sam, wanting to make Jack squirm a little, replied, "I guess I could probably move in with Janet and Cassie for a bit."

Jack stopped rubbing Sam's back and placed his hands gently on her shoulders. "You _could_ move in with Janet…BUT..I see two possible problems with that."

"Really?" Sam teased, grinning widely while her back was turned to Jack.

"Yup. One, I will still have to leave my house to assist you with your…..problems in the middle of the night or B, Janet will help you in the middle of the night and then take her lack of sleep out on me during my physicals."

Sam laughed. "You're right about that, she would take it out on you." Sam sat back against the couch causing her shoulders to, innocently, brush up against the inside of Jack's legs. "Okay."

"Okay?" he asked.

"Okay," she said again, smiling happily, knowing he couldn't see her face.

"Okay, you'll move in with me?" Jack asked, still a little confused.

"Yes," Sam replied.

"Yes?" Jack asked

"Yes," she replied again.

"Sweet!" Jack exclaimed and smiled broadly, rubbing Sam's back again.

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	5. Chapter 5

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The next day Sam had packed a few things for Jack's house. They had decided to get most of her things that weekend, intending on roping Daniel and Teal'c into helping. So, with just her laptop, her suitcase, and all the food Jack had bought the previous week, they headed home to Jack's house. Once inside, Jack set down the bags of groceries he had brought in and looked nervously at Sam.

"Uh, you can go ahead and unpack your bag in my room, Carter."

"Sir?" she asked, looking at him with a shocked expression on her face.

"My bedroom, Carter. I'll take one of the guest rooms," he replied, still nervous and not making eye contact. The thought of Sam sleeping in his bed, whether he was in it or not, did strange things to his libido that he did not want to think about.

"Sir," Sam started. "That really isn't necessary. I'll be fine in a guest room, I don't want to take your bedroom from you."

"Carter!" Jack interrupted. "I _want_ you to take my room. Look…..the bed is big and comfortable, you'll like it. Plus, the ensuite bathroom has an enormous Jacuzzi tub, you'll love it, I swear," he finished, looking at Sam with pleading eyes to accept his offer.

"Okay," Sam caved. "But, I'm fine switching whenever you want your room back, deal?"

"Yeah, sure, Carter, deal," Jack laughed, trying, unsuccessfully to hide his grin as he grabbed Sam's bag and headed down the hallway to his bedroom.

After Sam had unpacked her things, she headed out to join Jack on the back deck grilling steaks. "Hey," he greeted, as Sam opened up the patio door and walked out.

"Hey," she replied quietly as a wave of shyness overcame her.

"Get all unpacked?" Jack asked, trying to start up a conversation.

"Uh, yes, sir," Sam answered, taking a seat in one of the patio chairs.

Jack noticed how awkward Sam was acting and was worried she was having second thoughts about moving in with him. Trying to break the ice, Jack asked, "So,…..you and Junior must be hungry?"

Sam groaned. "Oh, please, sir, DO NOT call the baby Junior. I immediately think of Teal'c's symbiote."

"Ah, Okay, sorry," Jack made a sick face as he replied. "So, then," he started again after a few seconds with a smirk, "You and Bart or Lisa must be hungry?"

Sam looked up at him trying to hide her smile. "No."

"Marge? Homer? MAGGIE?" Jack continued, a full-fledged smile donning his face now.

"No, no, NO," she replied back.

"Aw, come on, Carter," he tried again. "What about mini-Sam or mini-Jack?"

"Um, no…sir."

"Ooh, I got it!" he excitedly yelled. "Little Thor!" he proudly announced, grinning exuberantly at Sam.

"JACK! You are NOT calling our baby Little Thor," Sam exclaimed, laughing quite hard by now.

They spent the rest of the night much more comfortable around each other. They still had a few tense moments through the night, but, they wouldn't be Sam and Jack if they didn't!

Sam decided she made the right decision moving in with Jack. That is, until, she went to bed in Jack's bed. Even with clean sheets, his bed still smelled overwhelmingly like Jack! She couldn't get away from his smell, not even in her sleep. She had awakened three times from dreams involving Jack.

Three times, she dreamed he was laying in bed with her, his arm laying across her stomach, his legs intertwined with hers. Three times, she dreamed he ran his hand up her arm to her face. Three times, he rolled her over, whispering how much he loved her. Three times, he leaned in to kiss her. Three times, she woke up right before his lips touched hers. How was a woman supposed to sleep like this?

Sam growled lightly and rolled over, burying her face in her pillow. No, not her pillow, JACK'S pillow. Jack's pillow that smelled just like JACK! Sam's senses were on overdrive. She was half-tempted to get up and drag him into bed with her just to finish her dream. "Oh, God," Sam groaned, as she rolled over again. "I really hope I'm not getting into the horny part of pregnancy!"

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ **

The next day, Jack met up with Daniel in the SGC hallway and decided to mention getting him and Teal'c's help with the rest of Sam's stuff. "Hey, Daniel, you got plans this weekend?" he asked, falling into step with the younger man.

"Uh, no I don't think so. Why?" Daniel asked, curiosity overcoming him.

"Um, well, I thought you and T could help me get the rest of Carter's stuff over to my house," Jack said, no emotion in his voice, but not looking at Daniel either.

"Sam's stuff?" Daniel asked, playing dumb.

"Yes, Daniel, _Sam's_ stuff, to _my _house," Jack answered, sarcasm dripping from his words.

"Why would you be taking Sam's stuff?" Daniel replied, still playing dumb.

"Because, _Daniel_," Jack said, anger creeping into his voice as he looked at his friend. Then lower, "Sam moved in with me last night, we're getting more of her stuff this weekend. You going to help or not?"

"Sure," Daniel answered, cheerily. "So, does this mean……..you and Sam?"

"No, Daniel," Jack interrupted him in a calm voice. "She is moving in so I can help her with the pregnancy, that's it."

"Why?" Daniel asked.

"Why?" Jack asked back, arching his eyebrows.

"Yeah, Jack. Why? You both care about each other. She's having _your_ baby without breaking your precious regulations. She's moving in with you. She's no longer under your command. Why are you _not_ doing anything else?"

"DANIEL," Jack yelled.

"JACK," Daniel yelled back.

"This isn't the time, Daniel," Jack quietly barked at his friend as he opened the door to his office and quickly went inside, trying to shut the door behind him before Daniel followed.

Daniel, however, was ignoring the hint from Jack and pushed his way into Jack's office, slamming the door behind him. "Why not, Jack! Or, better yet, _when_ will it be the right time?"

"NOT NOW, DANIEL!" Jack screamed at the archaeologist.

"JACK!"

"DANIEL, DAMN IT! NOW IS _NOT_ THE TIME," he yelled, his entire body tense in anger. Daniel just looked at him, not breaking eye contact, waiting, knowingly, for Jack to calm down. "Daniel," Jack began a few seconds later, his voice calmer and his body starting to relax. "She is pregnant. Now is not the time."

Daniel looked confused. "Why not?"

"Because," Jack started, agitation still evident in his tone. "Her hormones are all out of whack, Daniel. The last thing she needs is me throwing myself at her."

"I don't think she would see it that way, Jack," Daniel interrupted.

"You don't know that. She's going through a lot right now," Jack replied, in a low, almost sad voice.

"She's not the only one, Jack. You know, you're going through a lot, too. Your life is changing because of this, too. You've been so worried about Sam, but this affects you, too," Daniel lectured.

"I know that Daniel, but she's the one who's pregnant." Jack sat down in his chair and started sifting through papers. Daniel just stood there, not taking Jack's subtle hint to leave. "Daniel, just leave it alone for now, okay?" Jack said calmly to his friend, without looking up from his paperwork.

"Okay, Jack. But, I really think you should talk to her," Daniel answered in a friendly tone and then headed out of Jack's office. Promising himself not to let the subject drop completely.

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Daniel, Teal'c and even Janet, had all agreed to help with the move on Friday. They had all met at Sam's house right after work. Sam and Janet came in Janet's car, while all the men rode over in Jack's truck. It didn't take them long at all to pack up what Sam thought she might need at Jack's in the next few months.

When they had finished, they decided to have the girls run out and pick something up for dinner, while the guys ran to the mall and picked Cassie up from her part-time job.

The men walked through the mall to Cassie's store. Jack was the first one to see Cassie standing outside the store talking to a guy. The guy looked much older than Cassie and Jack immediately didn't like him. After nudging Teal'c and Daniel to notice the scene before them, Jack picked up his pace and approached his god-daughter.

"Hey, Cass, got a new friend here?" Jack asked, smiling at Cassie, but then glaring at her companion.

"Hey, guys! This is Chris, he works down at the music store," Cassie said. "Chris, these are my father-figures. This is Jack, Daniel, and the really big one, we call T."

Jack couldn't help but grin when he saw fear cross the young man's features. Especially, when he took in Teal'c.

"Uh, uh, n-nice to meet y-you….Ah….I-I'll catch you later, Cass," Chris replied, still shaken by the size of Cassie's 'fathers'. He turned and headed, at an incredibly quick pace, back towards the music store.

Cassie watched his retreating form and laughed. "Thanks, guys, I knew the sight of you three would scare him off. He's been chasing after me since I started working here. He just doesn't get the meaning of not interested."

Teal'c bowed his head and Daniel and Jack laughed along with Cassie.

"Ready to go, squirt?" Jack asked after the laughing died down.

"Yeah, I'm starving," Cassie replied, flinging her arms around Jack and Daniel's waists and walking away from her store.

Just then, Jack noticed the store opposite Cassie's. "What's that?" he asked Cassie.

Cassie grinned from ear-to-ear and looked up at Jack. "_That_ is the Baby Emporium. Largest baby store in the country," she announced, not taking her eyes off Jack. "Come on, let's go check it out," she said, pulling the guys towards the store.

"Uh, I don't know, Cas, the women are waiting on us," Jack said, trying to talk Cassie out of it, but at the same time allowing her to drag him in the store.

All three men were speechless when they got inside the store. The place was huge! None of them had any idea there could be so much baby stuff.

While Jack followed Cassie through rows and rows of baby toys, Daniel and Teal'c had headed in different directions. "I really need to bring Sam here," Jack jubilantly muttered to himself while picking up two different baby toys and playing with them.

About a half an hour later, Jack and Cassie had finally run into Teal'c and Daniel. Jack was pushing a cart filled with all sorts of baby items and Cassie was sifting through racks of baby clothes when Daniel came rushing up to them.

"Hey, Jack, you just have to get one of these outfits," he said excitedly, holding up two small outfits. The outfits had the well-known camouflage design, but, instead of the original green or desert brown, one outfit was different shades of pink, and the other, different shades of blue.

Jack grinned when he saw them. "Oh yeah, mine and Carter's kid _has_ to have that. Throw 'em in the cart, Danny!"

"Uh, which one, Jack? Do you know what the baby is yet?" Daniel asked, looking from one outfit to the other and then back at Jack.

"Uh, no," Jack answered.

"O'Neill," Teal'c's voice rang out from behind Daniel. All three turned their attention to Teal'c, standing in front of a rack of books. "This parenting manual states it can determine the gender of your unborn child."

"What's it say?" Daniel asked, walking closer to Teal'c.

Teal'c turned to a page and began reading. "It states that if the mother-to-be carries the baby high, it will be a boy. If the baby is low, it will be a girl."

Daniel and Cassie averted their eyes from Teal'c back to Jack with expectant expressions on their faces. "Uh, well, Carter isn't showing, yet. What else does it say, T?" Jack asked, a dumbfounded look on his face.

Teal'c read more on the page and then looked up at the other three. "It also states that if the mother-to-be craves chocolate and other sweet foods, the child is likely to be female. If the mother craves salty and spicy foods, the child will be male."

"Well, Carter's definitely got a sweet-tooth. I'm going to have to apply for a new credit card just to cover her ice cream and cookie cravings," Jack replied.

"So, then, it's a girl!" Cassie squealed.

"Uh, I don't know," Daniel cut in. "Sam sent me to the store twice last week to buy her

potato chips, and those are salty."

"I am in agreement with Daniel Jackson, Major Carter has depleted my supply of barbeque pork rinds," Teal'c announced in his normal monotone voice.

"Okay, so…..back to square one," Jack replied.

Teal'c read a little more from the book and then looked back up. "I do not believe this manual holds accurate information," he announced with a disapproving look, as he put the book back on the rack.

"So, then. Which one do we pick?" Daniel asked, holding up the two outfits again.

"Just throw them both in the cart. Whatever this baby doesn't wear, maybe the next one will," Jack said nonchalantly while rummaging through another rack of clothes.

Jack's comment did not fly over Cassie and Daniel's heads. At the end of Jack's words, they immediately looked at each other with astonished expressions plastered on their faces.

Daniel tried to send Cassie a silent message not to inform Jack of his 'faux pas', but Cassie, being the sarcastic teenager that she is, couldn't let the opportunity pass.

"So, um, Jack?" she started, grinning widely at her father figure. "The uh, next baby….were you planning on getting the asqaards help, or were you going to make it the old-fashioned way?"

Jack turned and stared at Cassie with a blank expression on his face. After a few seconds, it changed to a more freaked-out, deer-caught-in-the-headlights look.

"Cassie," he said calmly, looking at the young woman with an incredibly serious look on his face. "I want you to forget what I just said……BUT…. just to clear one thing up…..I do NOT need the asgaards help," he finished with a smirk overtaking his face.

Cassie grinned up at him and laughed. "Okay!…..Daniel, throw them both in the cart," she ordered, just as Jack's phone started ringing.

Jack answered the phone with a laugh still evident in his voice. "O'Neill."

"Sir, Hi," Sam's voice came over the line.

"Hey, Carter. What's up?" Jack answered back.

"Oh, nothing," Sam said, with a hint of laughter in her voice. "Janet and I were just wondering if you guys got lost in the mall or something."

"Oh, shit!" Jack exclaimed, looking at the time on his watch. "We totally lost track of time. Uh, we're on our way."

"Uh, sir, if you don't mind me asking, where are you?" Sam asked, curiously.

"Oh!" Jack said into the phone, embarrassment taking a hold of his body. "Cassie dragged us into a store, we're leaving now, we'll be home in a few minutes. Bye, Carter," Jack quickly replied and hung up his phone before Sam could ask him anymore questions.

Cassie, hearing the conversation, gave Jack a funny look and laughed.

"We gotta go," Jack said to everyone as he tucked his cell back into his pants.

"O'Neill, I believe some of these reading materials may be beneficial for you and Major Carter," Teal'c announced from his place, still in front of the book rack.

"Uh, sure, T. Just grab what you want. We'll meet you at the check-out," Jack responded, turning the cart around and heading towards the cash registers.

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **

Janet and Sam were shocked when Cassie and the guys got back home. They all came marching into the house, each carrying two or three shopping bags with the 'Baby Emporium' label on the front.

"Getting a little shopping done, Colonel?" Janet asked, holding the door open for them and laughing.

"It's all Cassie's fault," Jack exclaimed, smiling over at Cassie.

Cassie ignored Jack's blame and started rummaging through the bags, pulling out all the things they bought and showing them to Sam and Janet. "Look at this! Oh, and isn't this adorable! Oh, and Jack picked this out," she squealed as she pulled one thing after another out of the bags.

Janet had picked up several different outfits, both boy and girl, and looked at Jack with a confused expression on her face.

Jack, seeing her look, responded. "Well, we didn't know if it's a girl or boy, so I bought both."

"All you had to do was ask Janet," Sam announced, laughing at Jack's expression as she played with one of the baby toys.

"What?" Jack asked, looking over at Sam, completely confused.

Sam grinned at him. "Sir, Janet knows the sex of the baby. If you really want to know, all you have to do is ask her."

"What? How?" Jack asked, looking from Sam to Janet.

Janet just grinned at him.

"The amniocentesis, sir. The results included the sex of the baby," Sam answered.

"What? Really? So…so, does that mean, you….know?" Jack asked, still a little confused over the conversation.

"Uh, no. I never asked," Sam replied.

"You don't want to know?" he asked her, his voice becoming lower as he looked her in the eyes.

Sam felt her cheeks flush under his gaze. "Uh, well, I don't know, I guess, I just didn't want to find out without you," she managed to stutter out under his intense gaze.

"Oh," Jack replied, a little surprised over Sam's confession. "So, do you want to find out now?" he asked.

"Uh, well," she stuttered, looking up at Jack and then smiling, shyly. "Yeah, I think I do!………… At least then, we'll be able to return all the extra clothes," she announced, spreading her arms out and motioning at all the clothes spread throughout Jack's living room, and laughing.

"Actually," Cassie butted in. "Jack already has plans for the extra clothes," Cassie replied with the biggest smile imaginable.

"Really?" Sam asked, she and Janet looking at Jack for an explanation. Jack just glared at Cassie while Teal'c raised an eyebrow and Daniel coughed to suppress his laughter.

"Um, anyways," Jack started, after it was apparent no one else was going to say anything. "Doc, you going to tell us the sex of our baby or what?"

At this, everyone's gaze switched from Jack to Janet.

"Okay, are you two sure you really want to know right now?" she asked, looking at both of them.

"Yup," Jack replied and then looked over at Sam with a soft expression on his face. "Carter?"

Sam looked at Jack, her heart melting from the look he was giving her. "Yeah, I'm sure, Janet," she answered, not taking her eyes off of Jack.

"Okay, well then," Janet said as she walked over and picked up one of the camouflaged outfits. "I think your baby will look great in this outfit here," she announced, handing the little pink outfit to Jack.

"Pink?" Jack asked and looked down at Janet. "It's a girl?"

Janet smiled. "It's a girl, colonel."

Jack looked over at Sam, and for the first time since finding out Sam was pregnant, put his hand on her stomach and gently rubbed the small pudge. He looked her deep in the eyes with a loving smile on his face. "It's a girl," he told her, his voice low and gentle.

"A girl," Sam quietly repeated, smiling up at Jack, a single tear escaping down her cheek.

Jack lifted his hand up and wiped the tear from Sam's face, then he pulled her into a hug and whispered in to her ear. "We're having a little girl, Sam."

Sam choked back a sob. "Yes we are, Jack," she responded, tightening her hold on him and turning her face into his neck.

During their intimate moment, Jack and Sam completely forgot about the rest of the group who had quietly left the room, allowing the couple some privacy as they rejoiced in the new information.

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	6. Chapter 6

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A month later, Sam and Jack had become quite comfortable living together. Even small things like touching and hugging that had been taboo before, were now becoming quite regular.

Back massages were given without a second thought, and cuddling on the couch was becoming a normal ritual. If Sam was at the sink rinsing the dishes, Jack would sneak up behind her, wrap his arms around her waist and whisper "Whatcha Doin'," in her ear without thinking twice. And, Sam had no quarrels about plopping herself down on Jack's lap when she felt the need for human contact. Whether getting a back rub or just cuddling.

As close as they had become in the past month, there were still lines that neither of them were ready to cross. They both still dressed behind a locked door and stayed far away from the bathroom when the other was bathing. Even staring at each other was avoided. And, in a meager attempt to avoid any sexual tension, the channel was changed whenever anything sexual came on the television.

Without even realizing it, they had fallen into a routine. Every weekday morning, Sam would wake up first and waddle into the kitchen to make coffee. Then, she would head back to her room and hop in the shower. As soon as Sam would get in the shower, Jack would wake up and make his way to the kitchen, not even bothering to change out of his t-shirt and boxers.

He would start breakfast, usually something light and easy like oatmeal or pancakes. Then, he would pour two cups of coffee and head into the master bedroom, knocking on the bathroom door. On cue, Sam would open the door as soon as he knocked, and walk out, completely ready for work. She would smile up at Jack, thank him and take the proffered cup. Then, she would follow him out of the bedroom and back into the kitchen, where they would both eat breakfast. After breakfast, Jack would hop in the shower while Sam picked up the kitchen. Soon ready, they would head off to work.

Once they got to work, Sam would usually go check things out in the control room and then head up to the labs while Jack usually headed to the gym.

Work, generally, went the same as before. And, as before, all of SG-1 would get together for lunch. Including Sg-1's new officer, Lt. Hailey, who had joined the team after Sam's recommendation.

After lunch, they would go back to their work. Sometimes, on slow days, Jack would take a pile of his paperwork to Sam's lab and work on it at her table while she fussed around with one doohickey or another.

No matter where he was in the mountain, everyday, shortly before 1700 hours, Jack would arrive in Sam's lab, ready to take her home.

Sometimes, they would go out for dinner. But, most of the time, they would go home and cook something together.

At night, they would relax in each others company. Some nights, Sam would work on her computer or take a refreshing bath. But, most of the time, they would both crash on the couch, cuddled up, watching TV.

They were even sleeping together. Nothing else, just sleeping (get your mind out of the gutter!). It had happened by accident and was completely innocent.

A few weeks after Sam had moved in, Jack had fallen asleep in his chair watching a hockey game. He awoke in the middle of the night to an infomercial blaring from the television, the game long since over. He groggily got up and lugged himself to bed. Crawling in and pulling the blankets up, he was just about back to sleep when he heard Sam's voice break the silence. "Uh, sir?" she asked, rolling over and looking at Jack.

"Carter? What're you doing in my bed?" he sleepily asked.

"I've been sleeping here for weeks now," Sam said, still wondering what he was doing there.

After a few seconds, Jack rubbed his hand over his eyes. "Crap!" he said, and then looking over at Carter, "I'm not in the guest room am I?"

"No," she replied, a small smile appearing on her face.

"Sorry," he said as he pushed the blankets off of him.

Just then, Sam put her hand on his arm, stopping him from taking the blankets all the way off. "Um….you can stay….if you want," she suggested, a hopeful look in her eyes.

Jack looked from her hand to her face. "Are you sure?" he asked her in a soft voice, more than willing to stay in his bed (he had really missed it), but at the same time, not wanting to take advantage of Sam.

Sam looked at him for a moment before answering. "Yeah, I'm sure, you're warm," she told him, as if that explained everything.

Jack scrutinized Sam for a few more seconds, then he pulled her close to him and laid them both back down on the bed. After they adjusted their positions so Jack was spooned up against Sam's back, Jack leaned down and kissed Sam on the back of her head and whispered in her ear. "Go to sleep, Sam." And, they both did.

The next morning, they had woke up so comfortable in each other's arms, they silently agreed in the looks they gave each other, that they would be sleeping like this for now on. So, every night, they would climb into bed and cuddle together as they drifted into slumber.

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ **

Without either noticing, the amount of Sirs and Carters in the house had quickly declined, while the Sams and Jacks were on the rise. On base, or off, everyone had become used to seeing Sam and Jack almost always together.

Jack was happier than anyone could ever remember him being, and Sam was beginning to include Jack in all of her future plans, thinking nothing could go wrong. That is, until one particular Saturday morning.

Sam was cleaning up the kitchen from breakfast while Jack was in the shower. As soon as Sam had started the dishwasher, there was a knock on the front door. Opening the door, Sam's eyes fell on a very attractive woman standing on Jack's porch. The woman had long, light brown hair and dark brown eyes. She was about Sam's age and height, if not a little taller and she was quite skinny. In fact, looking at her, Sam thought she could very easily pass as a supermodel.

The woman looked at Sam for only a few seconds before stating in a jolly voice, "You must be Samantha Carter!"

"Uh, yes," Sam answered, still looking wide-eyed at the pretty woman and wondering why she was on Jack's porch.

"Oh, it is SO great to finally meet you! Jack has told me so much about you over the years. You look exactly like he described you." Then, looking down at Sam's stomach. "Well, almost. Oh, you are just as beautiful as he said you were!" she squealed on, jubilantly.

Sam just looked at the woman, incredibly confused, with jealousy starting to veer it's ugly head inside her. The woman noticed the confused expression on Sam's face and quickly introduced herself, holding out her hand in a friendly gesture. "Oh, I'm so sorry, in all my excitement, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Elizabeth Wade. Is Jack here?"

Sam, trying to process her name through her memory in a vague attempt to pull up anything on this woman, merely nodded her head. "Uh, yeah, he just got in the shower."

"Oh, good, I love interrupting his shower! Do you mind if I come in?" the woman, Elizabeth, asked.

Before Sam could form a coherent reply, the woman walked into Jack's house and headed down the hallway. Sam noticed immediately, that the woman knew her way around Jack's house quite well, and Sam was quietly fuming. She followed behind the woman after shutting the front door and muttering to herself, "Sure, come on in."

Sam was quite shocked when she walked into the bedroom and saw the woman knock on the bathroom door and then open it and yell in "Jonathon, get your scrawny, Irish ass out of the shower before you use up all the water in the county!"

Jack's voice sounded out into the bedroom. "Lizzie! What the hell?"

After Jack's retort, the woman shut the door and grinned over at Sam, who was still standing at the bedroom door, gaping.

A minute later, the bathroom door opened and out walked Jack, dripping wet and only wearing a towel around his waist. Not even noticing Sam at the door, Jack grinned widely at the woman in front of him.

"Lizzie, what the hell are you doing here?" he squawked and pulled her into a hug.

Sam stood there, frozen in her spot. Not only was Jack hugging this strange woman, but he was hugging her while only wearing a towel!

Sam felt a jealous rage overtaking her body. She was honestly thinking about pulling this woman away from Jack by her hair! As if Jack read her thoughts, he finally looked towards the door at Sam.

Instead of a look of guilt, that Sam was expecting to see on Jack's face when he noticed Sam, Jack actually had the audacity to look up at Sam and smile exuberantly. "Lizzie, did you meet Sam?" he asked, pulling slightly away from the woman.

"Oh, yes! We met at the door. She is just as beautiful as you said she was," Lizzie answered, turning around and smiling innocently at Sam.

Sam just continued to stand at the door with a dumbfounded look on her face. 'Who WAS this woman? Why had she never heard of her before? And, most importantly, WHY was she hugging a nearly-naked Jack?'

"Sam, you okay?" Jack asked, a concerned look coming over his face as he noticed Sam's weird expression.

"Uh, I'm fine, sir," Sam replied, a slight hint of ice in her voice.

Jack looked at her, confused by her reaction and wondering why she reverted back to calling him sir. Deciding to let it drop for now, Jack turned back to Lizzie. "So, what _are_ you doing here?"

"I was asked to come down and do a consult in Denver this week. Since, I hadn't heard from you in awhile, I thought I'd stop by and see what you've been up to." And then, looking pointedly at Sam's, now obvious, pregnant belly continued, "If what I'm thinking is true, I'd say you've been up to quite a bit."

Jack followed the woman's gaze and visibly flushed. "Uh, yeah, well, it's not exactly what you think. But, yeah," he confessed, looking from Sam back to the woman.

"So," the woman continued. "You two are having a baby?"

"Yeah, we are," Jack said softly, his loving eyes drifting to Sam.

Sam, who was still raging silently in the doorway, looked up at Jack after his response, seeing the soft look in his eyes, her anger slowly started to dissipate.

"So, does mom and dad know?" the woman asked Jack.

Sam looked up at Jack, confusion evident on her face.

"Uh, no, not yet. And, you'd better not tell them either," Jack ordered, looking at Lizzie with his colonel-glare.

"You know they're going to want to know before the baby's born," Lizzie replied, placing her hands on her hips and glaring back at the man before her.

Sam continued to stare, open-mouthed, from her spot in the doorway. Feeling like she just woke up in the 'Twilight Zone', having absolutely no idea what the hell was going on.

Jack looked at Lizzie and then started walking towards the bedroom door. "I know, Liz. I'm planning on telling them……I just haven't found the time yet," he retorted.

Reaching Sam at the door, he wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. "Sam, I hope my sister stopping by unannounced doesn't bother you," he whispered into her ear and then looked deep into her eyes.

All the tension that had been building up in Sam was gone immediately following the word sister. Sam gazed deeply into Jack's eyes, relief flooding over her face. "Of course not, I'm very excited about meeting her," she hoarsely replied, and then grinned happily at Jack.

Jack grinned back and squeezed Sam with his arm. "Good! I'm sure you two are going to love each other," he said, letting go and heading down the hallway to get dressed.

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	7. Chapter 7

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After a brief discussion, it was decided that Lizzie would spend the weekend with Jack and Sam and then head up to Denver for her consult on Monday.

Sam, now knowing that Lizzie was no threat, was ecstatic. Lizzie was the complete opposite of Jack. Where Jack was more reserved and never talked about himself, Lizzie was jolly and never shut-up. In only a few hours, Sam learned 100 times more about Jack and his family than he had ever mentioned in the seven years they had known each other.

For one, Sam didn't even know Jack's parents were alive, let alone that he had siblings. And, not just one or two siblings. Sam soon found out that Jack was one of TEN! This was just unbelievable!

Jack and Sam were sitting on the couch in the living room listening to Lizzie prattle on about their family from her seat in Jack's chair.

"Oh, Sam, you have no idea how happy everyone is going to be when they find out you two are finally together," she rambled on, not even noticing the icy glare Jack was throwing at her. "Jack hasn't talked about any other woman but you since his divorce. It is always, Sam this, Carter that. Whenever any of us would ask him if he was ever going to chuck up the nerve to ask you out, he would start spouting something about rules and regulations. It was SO annoying at times. I think, before much longer, if you two hadn't gotten together, the other nine of us would have come down here and locked you two in a closet."

"Other nine?" Sam asked, cutting her off.

"Yeah, Jack has told you there are ten of us kids, hasn't he?"

"Uh, no," Sam said, looking sideways at Jack and giving him an incredulous look.

"What? Come on, I'm from an Irish-Catholic family, Sam. You never even suspected?" Jack asked her, trying to suppress his grin.

Sam, to say the least, was flabbergasted. "You never talk about your family. I just assumed you didn't have any, or at the least, was estranged," she managed to croak out, still shocked that Jack had nine other brothers and sisters.

"There isn't too much to say. They're all grown and have families of their own. I barely ever see them myself. I talk to my parents and Lizzie, maybe once a month. The others, even less," he confessed, looking at Sam.

"So, are you the oldest?" Sam asked Jack.

"No, Jackie is the third. Robert is the oldest, he's married with four kids, two in college, two in high school. Carolyn is second. She's the snob of the family. She's a lawyer, divorced, has an apartment in Chicago and New York. She and Jack have never gotten along. But, she's always there for any of us, if we need her. Jack's the third. Then Patrick is 10 months younger than Jack. They could easily pass as twins. He was married once, but, he seems to think he is doing a great service to the women-population by staying single. He has a few kids from a few different women out there somewhere. Rebecca is next. She is sort of the mother-hen of the family. She was always willing to watch us younger kids. She's married with four kids. My brother Michael is a priest. Melissa is married with six kids. Laura has never been married, but, has a son in high school. Sean was married two years ago, no kids yet. And, I am the youngest. I'm married to my wonderful husband, Brian, and have two beautiful girls, Kristen is eleven and Jasmine is nine," Lizzie rambled out, almost in one breath.

"Wow," was all Sam managed to say as she tried to process all the information.

"Yeah, like I said, not much to say," Jack added.

Sam just gave him a funny look.

"Okay, well, how about I throw some steaks on the grill for dinner?" Jack said, standing up and rubbing his hands together.

"Oh, that sounds great," Lizzie excitedly answered.

"Yeah, sounds good," Sam responded, much quieter, looking at Jack.

While Jack headed outside to start up the grill, Sam went to the kitchen to clear off the island and start making a salad. Lizzie followed her, wanting to help. Seeing her picking up the books and newspapers off the center-island, Lizzie picked up a book on her side of the counter.

"Ooh, a baby name book," she squealed as she read the title.

"Oh, yeah, Jack picked up a couple books when he was shopping about a month ago. He's been going through that one circling all the girl names he likes," Sam replied, smiling.

"So, it's a girl, you know for sure?" Lizzie asked, thumbing through the book.

"Yeah, I had an amniocentesis over a month ago. It's a girl," Sam answered, still smiling as she pulled vegetables out of the fridge.

"I see he hasn't circled very many names," Lizzie announced, still flipping through the pages.

"Uh, I noticed that, too. Apparently, Jack is a lot more pickier than he wants people to know."

"Yeah, he's always been like that. Always trying to hide his true emotions behind anger and indifference…….I see he circled the name Grace," Lizzie added as she stopped on a certain page.

"Grace. Hmm, I like that, he hasn't mentioned it to me," Sam replied, replaying the name over and over in her head. She really did like the name. It was definitely a contender.

"Grace was our grandmother's name," Lizzie said, with a hint of sadness.

"Really?" Sam asked, looking up at the other woman. "I didn't know that."

"Yeah, she and Jack were always very close. She even left him the old fishing cabin and the entire 100 acres that go with it in her will." Lizzie was actually quiet for a few moments before continuing. "A few years after my grandpa died, my grandma decided she wanted to spend every summer at the cabin. Everyone told her she couldn't because it wasn't safe. Jack went up there and totally remodeled the old cabin to better accommodate her. He put in insulation, a sewer system, running water, electricity, totally built on an extra bedroom and bathroom. Paid the telephone company to install a phone line. It took him a while, but she was absolutely thrilled when he took her up there when he was done. She spent the next couple summers there." Lizzie stopped talking and looked up at Sam, evident tears in her eyes waiting to fall. "She died there a couple years after Charlie…..She held on until Jack got there to say good-bye before she went. We don't even know who called Jack and told him she was dying. We were all so caught up in our own grief, and then, he was just there. We knew…..we knew when he walked in the room and we saw the look in her eyes, she was only still alive to see Jack one last time. She died a few minutes after he arrived," Lizzie finished, wiping at the tears that were now running free.

Sam was speechless. She always knew the cabin was important to Jack, but she never knew how much, or that it held such intimate memories for him. She was now berating herself for never going up there with him. Sam felt a tear escape her eye and run down her cheek. Instead of wiping it away, she looked over at Lizzie. "Thank-you……for telling me," she said quietly.

Lizzie smiled through her tears. "You're welcome."

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By the next day, Lizzie had filled Sam's head so full of information about Jack, Sam wasn't sure if her big brain could hold it all. The three of them were eating lunch, with plans for the girls to go shopping afterwards. Sam needed a few more maternity pants and Lizzie was just a natural-born shopper.

"So, I was thinking, Jack. It would probably be a good idea if you let everyone know Sam's pregnant before mom and dad's 50th wedding anniversary party," Lizzie announced, while taking a bite of her sandwich.

"What?" Jack asked, with his usual confused expression on his face.

"Don't play dumb with me, Jonathon. I know you got the invitation. Don't tell me you never RSVP'd."

"Actually," Jack started. "I completely forgot about it, and with everything going on around here, I haven't talked to mom and dad in a few months."

"Well, it isn't for another two months. But, you should still call mom and dad and let them know if you two are coming or not," Lizzie replied.

"I don't know if we can, Liz, in two months, Sam is going to be almost eight months pregnant. She probably won't be able to travel," Jack added, an apologetic tone in his voice.

"Actually, I would love to go if we can get the time off," Sam cut in.

"Really?" Jack asked, looking surprised at Sam. He knew they were pretending to be a couple in front of his sister, but he didn't want to make her pretend in front of his whole family. That would be putting too much pressure on her. "I don't want to force you into anything, Sam," he said, looking directly in her eyes, sending her a silent message.

"Yes, sir, I know……..I would still really like to go……I mean, if you do, we don't have to if you're not comfortable," She started trailing off, self-doubt entering her thoughts.

"Uh, no! If you really want to go, I would love for you to meet my family," Jack said, looking lovingly at Sam. "Lizzie already told you they know all about you," he added, grinning at Sam with an embarrassed look on his face.

Sam smiled back at him, wondering if he had any idea how much she loved him, and then went back to eating her sandwich.

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Shortly after the girls left, Jack finally built up enough courage to make the phone call he had been avoiding for over a month now. It wasn't that he was scared to tell his parents that at the ripe old age of 47, he was going to be a father again. He was just nervous about exactly what to say to them. He knew they would ask lots of questions, and Jack was unsure of how to answer. Especially since many of the answers were classified, and Jack really hated lying to his family.

Picking up the phone and dialing the long-distance number he knew by heart, Jack waited for the familiar Minnesota-accent to come over the phone.

"Yello," came the familiar male-voice over the line.

"Hey, Dad, it's Jack."

"Jack! Ay, how've you been, son? We haven't heard from ya in a while," his dad answered in his normal, warm, cheery voice.

"Uh, yeah, I know, sorry about that, I've been busy," Jack said into the phone.

"Son, I would be shocked if you were ever not busy," his dad replied with a chuckle.

"Yeah, I know, Dad. So, I hear you and mom are going to renew your wedding vows."

"Can you believe that? After 50 years don't ya think I would know those damn things by now. For cryin' out loud, if I don't know those vows by now, I'm never gonna. Ya know what I mean, son?"

Jack was laughing lightly at his dad's outburst. "Yeah, pops, I know how you feel."

"So, son, you gonna make it up here for 'em or what?" his father asked in a softer tone.

"Uh, yeah, actually that was what I was calling for. I'm going to try to get the time off work and bring Sam with me."

"Sam? Is that a man or is that the woman you're always going on about?

"She's the woman, dad. Major Samantha Carter," Jack added.

"Ah, that's great, son. I'm glad to hear happiness in your voice," his dad announced into the phone.

"Uh, yeah, I am happy, dad. Um, there is something I need to tell you before we come, though," Jack said, nervousness creeping back in.

"Huh, what? Hang on, Jack. Your mom just walked in the door. She wants to talk to ya. Yeah, it's Jack!…..Just pick up the one in the den……Well, I don't know. He said he's bringing that woman he's infatuated with…..yeah, her!"

Jack could hear his dad yelling to his mom who was, likely, on the other side of the house.

"Jackie, sweetie! How are you, dear?" Jack's mom's voice came over the phone line.

"I'm good, mom. How are you?" Jack replied.

"Oh, you know, can't keep me down," she replied in a cheery voice.

"He said he needs to tell us something before the party," his dad's voice cut into the line.

"Really, dear? What is it?" his mom asked, concern in her tone.

"Uh, well, dad told you I'm bringing Sam with me?" Jack asked his mom, nervously.

"Yes, he did, son, and, I am so excited! I can't wait to finally meet her! Are you two finally dating? Oh, are you two getting married, is that the news?" his mom asked, rambling on (a trait his sister had definitely picked up from her).

"Uh, no, mom. We're not getting married. Um, actually, we're having a baby," Jack quickly got out before he changed his mind.

"OH, JACK! I am so happy for you! Did you hear that, Charles? Jack's having another baby?"

"Yes, Maggie. I am on the line, too. Congratulations, son," his dad announced.

"Thank-you, dad."

"So, when is she due? Are you two going to get married sometime? Do you know if it's a girl or boy?" his mom rambled on, not even giving Jack a chance to answer.

Jack answered all his parents' questions and then after saying their good-byes, he hung up. He felt a huge weight lifted off of his chest after finally letting his parents know about Sam and the pregnancy. He got up and rummaged through the cupboards looking for a snack to occupy him until the ladies got back.

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A few days after Lizzie had left, Sam had made a decision. She grabbed a pen and paper and wrote a name down. After walking into the living room, she handed the paper to Jack, who was sitting in his chair, reading the newspaper. "What's this?" he asked, picking up the folded-up paper.

"It's what I want to name the baby," Sam stated nervously. Her big, blue eyes, staring down at Jack in the chair.

Jack gave her a confused look and then opened up the piece of paper. "Grace Louise O'Neill," he read, then looked up at Sam.

"Lizzie said Grace was your grandmother's name and Louise was my mother's name. I thought, maybe, we could give her a name that was important to both of us," Sam announced, incredibly nervous about what Jack's reaction would be.

Jack just looked at Sam for a few moments. Then, standing up out of his chair, he repeated the name quietly. "Grace Louise O'Neill. Grace Louise O'Neill." He looked down into Sam's gorgeous blue eyes. "Can I call her Gracie Lou?" he asked her softly.

"Sure," Sam answered, just as softly.

"Then, I think it's perfect," he said, smiling at Sam.

Sam smiled back, relieved that he seemed happy with the name. Jack leaned down and kissed her on the forehead, then, looking in her eyes, he saw such a loving look, he pulled her into a hug. They stayed in the embrace for quite awhile. The name of their little girl running through their minds.

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	8. Chapter 8

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Jack was bored. He had been pacing his house for the last two hours with nothing to do. Sam had gone to a 'chick flick' with Janet and Cassie and he was lonely.

In the past couple of months, he had gotten so used to Sam living with him, that her absence, even for only a few hours, made his house feel so empty.

"Damn it, Sam, hurry up and get your ass back here," Jack muttered to himself as he continued his route through his house. Jack had wandered back to the bedrooms and then turned around and headed back.

Just as he was approaching his kitchen for the umpteenth time, he heard a loud knock on the door. Quickly turning around, he walked to the door, happy about the interruption.

"Yes, can I help you?" Jack asked after opening the door to a complete stranger. The man was slightly stocky with dark hair and a goofy look on his face.

"Hi, I was told that Samantha Carter was staying here," the man answered, smiling goofily at Jack.

"Uh, yeah, who are you?" Jack asked using his colonel tone to try and scare the man.

"I'm Pete Shanahan," he replied, as if Jack was supposed to know the name.

Jack raised his eyebrows in a questioning look.

"I'm a friend of her brother's. He gave me this address and told me to come look her up while I was in town."

Jack looked irritatingly at the man and crossed his arms across his chest. "Why?" he asked glaring down at the man.

"Uh, well, I-I guess he thought we might hit it off," Pete answered, starting to feel intimidated by Jack.

"Hit it off?" Jack asked with an incredulous look. "You are aware that Sam is pregnant with MY child aren't you?"

"Uh, well, I wasn't aware it was yours exactly. Her brother told me she was pregnant, but, wasn't with the father. I just assumed she was single. You….you two are together?" Pete asked from his position on the bottom step of Jack's porch.

"Yes," Jack replied in a calm voice while still glaring at the younger man. Okay, so, it wasn't _exactly_ true, but it was, in a way, and Jack was not going into specifics. He just wanted this man out of his yard and as far away from Sam as possible.

"I-I'm sorry. Mark really wanted us to meet. Uh, I guess I'll be going," he stuttered out, but continued to stand on Jack's step, not appearing to be moving.

"Okay, well then, good-bye," Jack said, turning around and walking back into his house, shutting the door and locking it behind him.

He didn't want this man staying around any longer! After locking the door, Jack leaned back against it in an attempt to slow his heart rate back down. The whole confrontation had his heart pumping madly in anger. 'What the hell was Sam's brother thinking, sending that dweeb to MY house?' Jack screamed in his head. 'Like my Sam would ever be interested in a dork like that,' he thought as his heart started to beat normally again. Apparently, bad-talking 'Pete' was good for his heart.

Deciding that staying in his house any longer without Sam was going to drive him crazy, he grabbed his truck keys and headed off to Daniel's.

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After two beers and a couple hours of listening to Daniel go on about something or other (he really wasn't listening), Jack decided Sam had to be back by now and headed home.

He walked into his house and hung his keys back on the key rack, noticing Sam's were there too. He quietly made his way through the house looking for her. Before he reached the den, he could hear her voice coming from it. From the sound of it, she was talking on the phone.

Not wanting to eavesdrop, Jack was about to make noise so Sam knew he was there, when he heard her say, "Mark". Immediately remembering the man on the front porch earlier, Jack went into stealth mode and leaned against the wall next to the entrance to the den, perking up his ears to hear Sam's end of the conversation.

"Mark, you're not listening, I don't want to meet him………….I AM happy!……Yes……..You don't know what you're talking about…….Mark, I understand, but you can't just expect me to have dinner with some guy when I'm pregnant and living with the father of my baby………….Yes, I do, very much………Yes, I think so…….Well, it's not like he's ever just come out and said it……..I just do!……Mark!…..Mark, you're doing it again. You're not listening to me.…………………..Alright, listen, I will meet him for a drink. But, just as friends and only because he doesn't know anyone in town…..NO!……..Look, a drink or nothing. Ok, tell him to meet me tomorrow at 1900 at the coffee shop on Twelfth Street……..Yes, coffee…….No, I'm not, I'm pregnant!………Coffee or nothing, Mark……….1900 is 7pm, Mark…….Because I AM military!……….Yes………Mark, please don't start……I'm very happy with my life…….Mark, it's getting late, I've got to go…..Ok, tomorrow, 1900, 7pm, coffee shop on Twelfth St……Love you too, bye."

When Jack heard Sam say, "bye," he quickly, yet stealthily ran back to the front door. "Sam, you home?" he called in as calm a voice as he could pull off.

Sam walked out of the den and into the front hall. "Yeah, I've been back for awhile. I got your message on the machine that you went to Daniel's. Did you have fun?" she asked, smiling up at him, knowing he probably was bored stiff at Daniel's.

"Uh, yeah, well no, not really. I had a couple beers to drown out his voice, that's all," he replied, matching her grin.

"Really? It only took two this time? You must be getting soft," she joked.

Jack laughed at her comment. "You had a visitor today," he announced in a serious tone.

"Oh, no! Tell me it wasn't someone named Pete," Sam groaned, burying her face in her hands.

"Sorry, it was, do you know him?" Jack asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

"No, he's a friend of my brother's. I guess he's a detective in Denver. He told my brother he was coming down here for a case and my brother insisted he look me up and take me to dinner," Sam managed to croak out through her hands.

"Dinner? Really? Sounds nice," Jack answered in a controlled, quiet voice.

"Well, I won't find out. I agreed to coffee, tomorrow night as friends and that's it," Sam announced, taking her hands away from her face and looking up at Jack.

Sam thought she saw relief cross Jack's face for a brief second. 'Was he really worried?' She wondered to herself. "Uh, you're welcome to come if you want," Sam said, looking, doe-eyed, at Jack.

"Oh, thanks, Carter. But, that's ok. I met him earlier. I really don't think we have a lot in common," Jack replied, trying to hide the emotions rampaging in his heart.

"That bad, huh?" Sam asked, with a regretting look on her face. She really was not looking forward to this.

"Well," Jack started, grinning at her now. "I don't want to influence your first impression of him, so I'm pleading the fifth." Jack grinned again, and then, headed into the kitchen for some food.

"Great," Sam muttered to herself. 'Well, maybe I'll get called into an emergency at the base,' she thought as she followed Jack into the kitchen. She was hungry, too.

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"Hey, is anyone home?" Cassie's voice yelled through the house as she shut the front door and started walking around.

"Yeah, I'm in the den," Jack's voice yelled out just as Cassie approached the den entrance.

"Whatcha doin'?" she asked him curiously.

"Uh, dusting?" Jack replied, waving the feather-duster in the air so Cassie could see it.

"Dusting?" Cassie repeated, looking at Jack with a suspicious look. "The whole house or just the den with Sam's stuff in it?" she asked, setting the catalogues in her hands down and crossing her arms across her chest. An intimidating posture she learned from Jack.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jack squawked, imitating Cassie's posture.

"Oh, please, you were snooping," she accused him, trying hard to suppress her grin and hold her serious face.

"I DO NOT SNOOP," Jack screeched, trying, unsuccessfully, to sound serious.

"I know Sam's having coffee with her brother's friend……You're jealous!" Cassie said, trying to suppress the laugh that wanted to come out.

"Why would I be jealous of a dork?" Jack asked, getting irritated at Cassie's accusations.

"Because you love her and you're scared she's actually going to like this guy," Cassie stated.

She waited for him to deny her accusation and then, possibly crack a joke. Instead, Cassie witnessed the saddest look of fear cross over Jack's face. "What if she does like him, Cass?" he asked in almost a whisper.

"Jack, she might like him as a friend, but you know she will never love him like she loves you," Cassie replied, her heart breaking at the desperate look on Jack's face.

"I can't lose her Cass," he confessed sadly. Cassie's heart broke even more. "Not, now, not after all this. I can't go back to the way we were. I…I can't live without her here with me anymore, Cassie."

Cassie felt tears pricking the back of her eyes, wanting to fall. "Jack, Sam loves you more than anything. You won't lose her."

"You don't know that! She cares for me, she's never admitted anything more," Jack sadly said, raising his voice. He was getting angry with himself for appearing so weak in front of Cassie.

Cassie looked at him sadly. 'How could he not know how much Sam loved him.' "Alright, look, I'm probably breaking some silent woman ethic code or something here, but, I can honestly say that I know for a fact that Sam loves you with all her heart."

"How do you know that, Cass?" Jack asked quietly, taking a seat in Sam's chair and looking down at his hands in his lap.

"Just because she never admitted it to you, doesn't mean she's never admitted it, Jack."

Jack looked up at Cassie, his expression revealing the emotional wreck that he was at the moment. "What are you saying, she's told you she loves me?" he asked, in a sad, desperate voice.

Cassie hated betraying Sam by ratting out her secrets to Jack, but she was really, truly worried about Jack. She had never seen him look this devastated before. "Yes, she has. In fact, she admits it quite frequently. She has loved you for a long time, Jack."

"When?" was his simple question.

"Well, most of the time, she would admit it during her and mom's tequila nights. You wouldn't believe some of the things they admit by the time they get to their third drink," Cassie laughed, trying to break the depressive atmosphere.

"So, she's only said she loves me when she's wasted," Jack retorted, his voice raising slightly in anger.

"NO! She hasn't ONLY admitted it drunk. Jesus, Jack! Stop being so negative. She loves you. She doesn't say it a lot because for so long it was forbidden and you KNOW that! And, it's not just in words. Anyone who spends any time with the two of you can tell you two love each other," Cassie replied in a loud voice, close to actually yelling.

Jack looked at the young woman for a few seconds. Cassie could still see his emotions playing across his face. He normally hid them so well, and the fact that he didn't even seem to be trying to hide them from her, scared her more than she realized.

"Sorry, Cass. I didn't mean to throw all of this on you," he replied as a look of remorse crossed his face.

"You have to believe me that she does love you, Jack," Cassie replied, not feeling like Jack was truly believing her.

"I Know, Cass," he said softly. Then, he stood up and ran his hands through his disheveled hair. "What are you doing here, anyways?" he asked, realizing for the first time that he wasn't expecting her.

"Oh! Sam asked me to pick up these catalogues from the 'Baby Emporium' for her. I just got out of work, so I thought I'd drop them off," Cassie answered, picking up the catalogues and handing them to Jack.

"What are they for?" he asked, thumbing through one.

"The baby's room."

"Oh, really? Cool," he remarked, back to his old self again. He grinned at Cassie and then sat down so they could both look through the catalogues of baby room decorations.

After a few pages, they came across a picture of a room decorated with a space theme. "Sweet!" Jack exclaimed. Reading the description on the page.

"I should have known," Cassie laughed. "That's the room Sam really likes, too. They have a few of the decorations in the store, but most of them have to be ordered on line. That's why I picked up the catalogues."

"Well, let's get what we need ordered and get this show on the road," Jack exclaimed, turning Sam's chair so he could access her computer.

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Sam had a nice time with Pete at the coffee shop. They talked about how devoted they were to their respective careers and how Pete and Mark had met. Pete was a really nice guy and Sam felt like he could be a good friend.

He was funny and open, and although he wasn't ruggedly handsome like Jack, he was cute in a puppy-dog sort of way. After a little over an hour, Sam started to feel tired and told Pete it was time for her to go. She took his cell phone number and agreed to call him if she wanted to hang out again while he was in town.

Sam was surprised when she returned home to an empty house. "Huh, I wonder where he went?" she muttered to herself, putting her keys up and heading further into the dark house.

Walking into the living room, Sam saw the answering machine blinking, and assumed it was Jack letting her know where he ran off to. Hitting the play button, Sam was surprised when a woman's voice came over the machine.

"Hey, Jack. It's Sara. I got your message. I'm on my way home now, but you'll probably get there before me. The spare key is in the same spot it's always been, let yourself in. I'll be there shortly. I guess I'll try your cell, in case you've already left. Bye."

The answering machine beeped as the message ended. Sam quickly reached up and hit the button to keep it as new, then in a daze, she turned around and plopped herself in Jack's chair. 'Oh my God! He's seeing his ex-wife! Why? Oh my God, OhmyGod, OhmyGod!'

Sam's eyes were pouring out tears. She was crushed! 'How could he do this to me? Why would he go to his ex-wife now? We were getting so close!'

Sam was furiously batting the tears from her eyes, but it was making no difference, more just kept coming at an increasing rate. 'Oh my God! He's going to leave me and go back to Sara! Oh, God, he's going to kill me! I can't take this! NOT NOW! Oh God, why NOW!'

Sam was hysterical. Her heart was breaking! She didn't know what to do. She wanted to throw stuff, to hit stuff. Not just any stuff, JACK'S STUFF! But, she didn't. She sat and cried and cried, until she couldn't cry anymore. All of her fears were coming true! It was too much. She couldn't handle it.

Thoughts of her dropping Grace off at Jack and Sara's house for the weekend popped in her head. She would have to see them together all the time. Grace would probably even call Sara mom. Oh God! What if Sara was a better mom to Grace than Sam? Oh, No! Sam started crying harder.

After what seemed like forever, Sam's cell phone started ringing. Wiping away the tears that were still running down her face, Sam composed herself the best she could and answered the phone.

"C-Carter," she croaked into the phone. 'Damn it!' she scolded herself for her broken voice.

"Major Carter, this is the SGC. The dialing computer is on the fritz again and the technicians don't seem to be able to fix it. SG-5 is due out at 0700."

"Ok, I'll be there shortly. Find Siler and don't let him leave until I get there," Sam ordered into the phone. She washed up in the bathroom, and feeling much better, wrote a quick note to Jack telling him she was at the base. Then, she grabbed her keys and headed to her car.

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Jack had gotten home way later than he wanted to. He was worried about Sam as he had tried calling several times and just kept getting the answering machine, and she wasn't answering her cell.

'Crap!' he silently screamed. 'I should never have just run off. We have no idea what kind of a creep this Pete-guy might be. Crap! I should have left a note,' he continued to silently berate himself.

After walking in the front door, he immediately relaxed once he read the note Sam had left for him. 'Cool!' he thought to himself. 'She came home early from her date with the cop.'

He went into the living room to pick up the house phone and call Sam at work. Noticing the red light blinking, Jack hit the play button on the answering machine. "Oh, Crap!" he said out loud after Sara's voice came over the line. Jack quickly deleted the message.

'Okay, Sam must have left before Sara called. The message was still beeping,' Jack thought to himself, his heart racing, worried Sam might have heard the message.

Jack agreed with himself that Sam had not heard the message and then dialed the number for the SGC. After a few connections, Sam finally came on the line.

"Carter," She said over the line.

"Hey, working hard?" Jack asked in his soft voice.

"Sir, Hi! I didn't know it was you," Sam said into the phone, surprised that Jack was on the line and trying to act normal. "Um, the dialing computer went down and I'm attempting to fix it now."

"Ah! So, are you coming home tonight?" Jack asked. He really was missing her.

"No, this is going to take me most of the night. I'm just going to stay on base," Sam replied. She was trying very hard to hide her tumultuous emotions. Just hearing his voice was making her want to cry.

"Oh, okay. Uh, I could come and get you when you're done, if you want to come home," Jack said. He really hoped she would say ok. The thought of sleeping in his bed without her was depressing him, even if just for one night.

"No, that's okay, sir. I still have hours of work here," she replied in a sad voice over the phone.

"Well, if you change your mind, don't hesitate to call."

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay, I have tomorrow off, so I'll see you when you get home. Good night, Sam," Jack said quietly into the phone.

"Good night, Jack," she replied sadly, hanging up the phone.

Since Sam wasn't coming home, Jack decided to call Cassie and get a head start on their project.

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When Sam woke the next day, she did her best to not think about Jack and Sara. But, she was having a hard time. She really felt an intense urge to go home, crawl up in Jack's lap and not let go. Of course, this only made her more depressed because she knew if Jack was going back to Sara, her days of cuddling with Jack were over.

So, when Janet arrived in Sam's lab and told her she had just talked to Cassie who was insisting that they all get together for a girl's night at Janet's, Sam was happy to go.

Cassie had called Janet and told her she had broken up with her boyfriend and desperately needed Sam and Janet to help her get through the night. Sam and Janet were equally surprised as they were unaware that Cassie even had a boyfriend and she usually wanted her friends when she broke up with a boy. So, agreeing to Cassie's demands, Sam went home with Janet.

Once Sam had arrived at Janet's, she called Jack to let him know she would be staying the night there. Instead of sounding upset that Sam wouldn't be home, Jack sounded happy about it. He claimed he ran into an old friend and was going to hang out with him.

Sam could tell he was lying. She tried desperately to keep her voice controlled as she told him to have fun with his friend. However, once she hung up, she burst into tears. Janet rushed over, asking her what happened.

"Jack's going back to his ex-wife!" Sam wailed into the doctor's shoulder.

"What? Are you sure, I can't believe it! Did he just tell you that?" Janet asked, shocked and bewildered over Sam's announcement.

Sam explained the whole situation to Janet. Of course, Janet, not dealing with a multitude of pregnant hormones, saw a lot of holes in Sam's logic and spent a good deal of the night trying to talk Sam out of her depression.

Cassie had called during the middle of Sam's 'episode' and told the women that she was '_really sorry, but her friends insisted on taking her out to help her get over her heartache and she would be home in the morning.'_ So, Janet was stuck dealing with an emotionally train-wrecked Sam all on her own.

The next morning, Sam and Janet were just waking up when Cassie came bouncing into the house quite excited. She met up with the women in the kitchen, desperately waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. "Mornin'! Wow, what did you two do last night? You look rough. It's almost 10:00, I can't believe you just woke up," she rambled on gleefully, taking a seat at the table. The sleep-deprived women just glared at the teenager.

Once the women had some caffeine in their systems, Cassie insisted they needed to take Sam home right away so she could get some more rest. They both tried arguing with Cassie, but the girl was very animate and the air force majors soon caved to the 17-year old.

Once they had arrived back at Jack's house, Cassie practically ran up the steps and into the house. Sam was muttering under her breath, and Janet was confused about Cassie's strange behavior and worrying that she might be on drugs.

Jack met the women at the door, smiling from ear-to-ear. "Good morning, ladies," he said, jubilantly.

Sam, after encountering Jack's unexpected happy demeanor, started to worry that he spent the night with Sara. Sam closed her eyes and groaned over the thought of Jack and Sara making love.

"You okay, Sam?" Jack asked, concerned.

"I'm fine, sir," Sam replied, dryly.

Jack scrutinized her for a few minutes. He knew something was wrong, but had no idea what. Instead of questioning her, he decided to show her his surprise. Taking her hand and pulling her down the hallway he said, "Come on, I've got a surprise!"

Cassie was standing in the hallway, in front of a closed door, with an enormous smile plastered on her face. Jack, who was grinning just as huge, ordered Sam to close her eyes and then opened the door and gently pulled her inside.

After hearing Janet gasp behind her, Sam opened her eyes. The plain guest room had been turned into an amazing nursery. Sam was astonished. There was a normal crib, changing table, dresser and rocking chair in the room. But, that wasn't the astonishing part. The part that amazed Sam was the entire Space theme that she had really wanted.

Sam looked around the room, taking in everything. The walls were painted a bright yellow and several space posters donned the walls. On the dresser was the sun lamp she had seen at the store, along with a model of the Prometheus, that Sam had no idea how Jack got his hands on, but was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to have it.

Everything she had seen in the store was in the room. It was amazing. But, the most amazing part was the ceiling. Fiber optic lights hung from the ceiling making it look like stars. The lights were set up to look like several familiar constellations and Sam knew Jack had a blast doing it. As Sam looked at the ceiling, a shooting star shot from one side of the room to the other. Sam and Janet both gasped.

Sam looked over at Jack, who was grinning beside her. "Jack, this is so amazing!"

"I'm glad you like it. I spent a small fortune in overnight delivery and Cassie and I spent all day and night trying to get it done before you came home."

"Huh," Janet gasped. "You set us up," She accused, mockingly glaring at Cassie, who just smiled big and shrugged.

Sam pulled Cassie into a hug and thanked her, just when she was getting ready to do the same to Jack, she saw the picture hanging over the crib.

She looked at Jack for a split-second and then walked over to the crib. Hanging in a long frame on the wall was a child's drawing of the solar system. The sun was on the left with all the planets in order from left to right, including the asteroid belt. At the bottom of the page was the child's signature: Charlie O'Neill. Next to the youthful handwriting was a school picture of Charlie.

Sam had tears falling out of her eyes as she took in the wonderful picture. She turned to Jack for an explanation.

"When Cassie and I decided to do up the baby room this way, I thought about all the pictures and projects Charlie did in the third grade about the solar system. I called up Sara and asked her if I could have one for the baby. She was more than happy to give up one for Gracie," Jack explained in a soft voice to the sobbing Sam.

"Oh, Jack! It's so perfect! I can't believe you did all this," she cried and buried herself into Jack's body.

Jack wrapped his arms around her and held her while she cried her happiness into his shoulder. After a few minutes and several tears later, Sam pulled off his shoulder and looked around at the perfect room again. "This is so great. The only problem now is, I have to come up with another theme for my house," she said, nonchalantly, grinning happily while memorizing everything in the room.

"Or not," Jack said softly, looking at Sam, all of a sudden very nervous.

Sam looked up at him with a questioning look on her face.

Jack exhaled loudly and looked deep into Sam's eyes. "I don't want you to go back to your house, Sam. I want you to live here, with me, permanently."

Sam swallowed the incredibly large lump in her throat and tried to talk, but nothing would come out.

"I can't live without you anymore, Sam. I want you here, I need you here. You and Gracie, always. Please, please say you'll stay," Jack pleaded, letting down all his walls and allowing Sam to see all of his emotions, clearly written on his face.

Sam was so overwhelmed with emotions she was still unable to talk. Her face contorted as she let out a loud sob and tears continued to run down her face. She nodded 'yes' to Jack and, letting out another sob, buried her face back into his shoulder.

Jack didn't even notice his own tears running down his face or his own sobs as he hugged her tightly, never wanting to let her go.

The other two women in the room cried softly from their spot on the other side of the room, watching the emotional scene before them.

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	9. Chapter 9

a/n: _For all of you out there worried about Sam's caffeine consumption while pregnant: don't worry! Doctors will tell you one or two cups of coffee a day is perfectly safe for the baby. Trust me, I've been pregnant 5 times! Sam has one real cup of coffee in the morning, anything else she has for the rest of the day is decaffeinated. _

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After everyone in the room finally recomposed themselves, Jack insisted Janet and Cassie stay for brunch. Janet and Cassie really wanted Jack and Sam to be alone, but Jack claimed that he had already promised Cassie his world-famous omelets.

Sam was anxious to find out what Jack would do or say once they were alone, but she also was very thankful for all the help Cassie gave Jack, and really wanted to hear all about their 'adventure' in decorating. So, temporarily setting aside her desire, she insisted they stay right along with Jack.

Jack started on his omelets while Sam pulled out a pan to fry bacon. Janet pulled a loaf of bread out of the bread box to start toasting. And, Cassie plopped her butt in a chair and started telling her tale, as dramatically as she could pull off, from the time she showed the catalogues to Jack.

During their meal, Sam and Jack couldn't keep their eyes off each other. Both of them were replaying the drama that had unfolded in the nursery only an hour before. Sam couldn't believe what she saw in Jack's eyes when he was begging her to stay with him.

Love. Hope. Desperation. The emotions were so prominent. Just thinking about them was making Sam's heart beat erratically. She couldn't wait to be alone with Jack!

Jack was feeling the same way about Sam. He was still ecstatic that she actually agreed to live with him. Watching her during brunch, each time their eyes met he could see so much love and want radiating from them. He was pretty sure if Janet and Cassie weren't there, he would have very likely taken her right there on the dining room table!

Shortly after their meal was over and Cassie and Jack had finished unfolding their tale of decorating, Janet announced that it was time for her and Cassie to get headed home.

As soon as Janet and Cassie reached the door, Sam felt like her heart was going to explode in her chest from nervousness. She knew as soon as Cassie and Janet pulled out of the driveway, her relationship with Jack was going to change forever. She knew once they crossed that line they had both been wanting to cross for so long, there would be no going back. As excited as she was that this day was finally here, she was, rightfully, just as scared about it as well.

She hugged her friends good-bye and then watched at the door as they got in Janet's car and pulled out of the driveway. Jack was standing right behind her and she could feel the heat from his body. She was totally freaked!

Should she just turn around and kiss him? Should she ask him exactly what he wanted? Should she worry he was only acting like this because she was pregnant with his child? Sam didn't know what to do. So, she just stood there, looking at Janet's retreating car driving down the road.

Jack stood behind her watching Janet's car drive out of sight. He leaned in a little closer and wrapped his arms around Sam's waist and pulled her into him so her whole body was touching his. Leaning down, so his cheek was touching her temple he spoke softly. "So."

"So," Sam croaked back, nervousness taking over her voice.

"Should we go back inside?" he asked in a soft, sexy voice that made Sam's heart skip a beat.

"Yeah," Sam answered softly.

Jack pulled slightly away from her but still kept his arms around her waist and guided her back into the house. After shutting the door, they continued to stay like they were. Sam felt Jack's body tense slightly like he was about to move when the shrill cry of the phone pulled them both out of their embrace.

"Shit," Jack grumbled, pulling completely away from Sam and heading towards the phone. "O'Neill!" Jack barked into the phone. "Yeah, all right…..I'll be there shortly," he said in a low, regretful voice. After hanging up the phone, he looked at Sam with remorse. "I've gotta go in. Bra'tac just showed up, something about an alliance between two goa'ulds."

"Should I go with you?" Sam asked, disappointment in her voice.

"Nah. We'll probably have to go off-world to get more intel, and you'll end up working in your lab _on your day off!_" he replied, stressing the last part and giving Sam an accusing look.

She just smiled at his accusation. "So," she said lowly, a few seconds later.

"So," he repeated, shoving his hands in his pockets and balancing on his heels. He squinted his eyes as he gazed at her, wondering if she was as nervous as him. "I shouldn't be gone long. Couple hours, max."

"Ok. Um, I'll probably take a nap."

"Good," he replied, then searched the room with his eyes as if he was looking for something. "Uh, well, I should probably be going."

"Yeah," Sam agreed, then backed up to allow him passage to the front door.

He walked towards her, and then stopped when he reached her. He looked deep in her eyes and wrapped his arms around her once again. Breaking eye-contact, he leaned in and kissed her on the forehead, letting his lips linger their for a few extra seconds.

Pulling away, he saw all the emotions he was feeling playing on her face. Looking at her sweet, soft lips, he wanted desperately to kiss them. But, he knew, if he so much as touched her lips, there was no way he was leaving his house. So, leaning down, he brushed his lips across her cheek and whispered in her ear. "I'll be back soon, promise."

"I'll be waiting," Sam replied, quietly. And then watched as the man of her dreams walked out the door.

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Sam took a short nap and then spent some time in the nursery, going over everything in the room. She made herself a small meal for dinner and watched TV, waiting for Jack to get back.

At 2100, Sam was getting antsy, and was fighting with herself about calling the base and finding out where Jack was. But, not wanting to seem desperate, every time she picked up the phone, she talked herself out of it. By 2230, Sam was incredibly tired, and took herself to bed.

Sam awoke the next morning feeling cozy and warm. After waking up a little more, she realized she was not alone in bed. Jack was spooned up against her, his arm resting around her waist.

Turning over to face him, Sam was not surprised that he was able to sneak into bed without waking her. He was black ops. She cuddled into Jack's warm body and wrapped her arm around him. Resting her forehead against his, she reminisced about everything from the previous day.

Thinking about what could have happened if Jack wouldn't have been called into work, Sam had the intense urge to kiss him. Giving in to her desire, she leaned in and lightly touched her lips to his.

Pulling off slightly, she captured his bottom lip between hers and lightly sucked. After only a few seconds she pulled back and her heart stopped as she saw two intense brown eyes staring back at her.

"Whatcha doin?" he whispered in almost a moan.

"Kissing you," Sam innocently answered.

"Why?" he asked softly.

"Because I wanted to," she said, her face incredibly close to his.

"Oh," was his only reply as he pulled her closer and captured her lips with his own.

After several minutes of intense kissing, their hands started to wander over each other's body, boldly going where they had never gone before.

Jack attacked Sam's neck and shoulders with his lips and before he knew it, they were both divulged of their shirts. They had both wanted this for so long that their desire had taken over complete control. Sam's hands were exploring every inch of his back, his hair, his face, his chest, while he was eagerly exploring the newly-exposed skin of Sam's chest with his mouth.

While his lips were enjoying Sam's front, his hands were venturing down and inside her shorts. He was slowly kissing his way down Sam's body when the phone, once again, interrupted their passion.

Groaning loudly, Jack, unwillingly, pulled himself off Sam and reached for the phone. "O'Neill!" he yelled into the receiver. His mind fighting to take back control of his passion-filled body.

After several minutes of listening to the person on the other end of the phone, he replied, "I understand, we're on our way." After hanging up, he turned and looked at Sam. "We have to go in."

Sam's shoulders slumped in obvious disappointment. Jack, who was feeling the same way, pulled her close and kissed her delicately on the lips. "Oh, we are definitely going to finish this," he said, smiling seductively at her.

Sam smiled back, more than happy to finish. "What's going on?" she asked. Her military training kicking in.

"Teal'c and Bra'tac just returned from that goa'uld meeting, apparently it was a massacre. They brought back some technologically advanced warrior. From what they said, he was responsible for taking everyone out," Jack announced, pulling Sam off the bed with him.

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During the debriefing on base, Sam mentioned that the Tok'ra could be helpful on gathering more information on this new breed of soldier Teal'c and Bra'tac found.

General Hammond agreed and while he ordered the technicians in the control room to call the Tok'ra, Sam headed down to the labs to get a look at the new soldier.

Sam had been working for hours in one of the larger labs. She had been running scan after scan on the dead body, awaiting the arrival of the Tok'ra. She was standing next to a lab table, looking over the latest test results when Jack snuck in the room and quietly wrapped his arms around her from the back. He leaned down and started a slow assault on her neck with his mouth. "God," he moaned. "I can't get you out of my mind!"

"Hmm," Sam moaned, happily. His body and mouth igniting the passion in her. She turned in his arms and, wrapping her own around his neck, she pressed her body against his and sought out his lips with her own.

The kiss was gentle and slow. Each taking turns exploring the other's mouth and then tangling their tongues in a dance of love. Jack wanted to tell Sam how much he loved her, but that would mean he would have to pull away from her mouth, and he just wasn't yet ready to do that. He was seriously contemplating throwing his shirt over the camera in the room, locking the door, and making love to Sam right there in the lab, dead alien in the room and all.

"O'NEILL! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WITH MY DAUGHTER?" Came a familiar, yet incredibly angry voice from behind Jack.

"Shit," Jack said in a low voice, pulling away from Sam's soft lips and looking at her, fear plainly written across his face. "Jacob?" Jack asked, slowly turning around.

"YOU HEARD ME, COLONEL, I ASKED YOU A DIRECT QUESTION," The very angry two-Star General yelled.

"It's not what you think, Jacob," Jack said, trying to calm the man down.

Just then, Sam moved from behind Jack and Jacob saw his only daughter pregnant for the very first time. He stared at Sam with an incredibly confused look on his face. With Selmac's help, he tried to analyze everything he just witnessed in order to make some semblance of sense out of it.

Giving up, he looked from Sam to Jack and back again, and then yelled in his most authoritative general voice, "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?"

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	10. Chapter 10

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Jack, knowing Jacob was very hot and not sure exactly how to calm him down, raised his hand in a blocking gesture and repeated his previous sentence. "It's not what you think, Jacob."

"WHAT I THINK…_COLONEL_…IS THAT I JUST WALKED IN AND FOUND MY DAUGHTER AND HER _COMMANDING OFFICER_ NECKING!"

"DAD," Sam yelled, trying to get her dad's attention so he would listen.

However, Jack, being Jack, put his 'foot in his mouth' and contradicted Jacob. "Well, see, there you go, I'm no longer her commanding officer."

This, however, had the opposite effect that Jack was wanting. With an angry glare, Jacob began advancing on Jack.

Jack, being a very well trained and experienced officer, quickly retreated to the other side of the lab table. "Jacob, you need to calm down," Jack yelled, running around the table. Jack was awaiting the arrival of Selmac, expecting the even-tempered tok'ra to take over control of Jacob's body to settle him down. However, when Jacob's eyes flashed again, and Jacob continued to chase him around the table, Jack was pretty sure he was out of luck there.

Jacob stopped his chase to yell at Jack some more. "SO HELP ME, O'NEILL! IF YOU GOT MY DAUGHTER PREGNANT, WHEN I GET DONE WITH YOU, YOU'LL REGRET THE DAY YOU EVEN THOUGHT OF JOINING THE AIR FORCE!"

"DAD," Sam yelled just as her dad, once again, started his chase around the table. "Jack DIDN'T impregnate me! Dad! STOP! DAD, it wasn't Jack! It was the Asgaard!"

This caused Jacob to stop again, glaring at Jack and then to Sam, he yelled, a little quieter, "WHAT? The Asgaard? How?…….So, you're saying you have an alien growing in your stomach?"

"No, Colonel O'Neill is the father," Sam tried to tell him, but once hearing Jack was the father, Jacob started chasing him around the table again. "DAD!"

"JACOB, YOU HAVE TO STOP AND LISTEN TO US!" Jack yelled, still running from the angry general.

"Alright, Jack!" Jacob said, stopping again. "I'll promise NOT to kill you if you can tell me you're not sleeping with my daughter."

Jack made a 'fish face' and then, nervously looking from Jacob to Sam and back to Jacob, stuttered out, "Uh, define sleeping with."

This was not the answer Jacob was going for, and with a loud growl, started running after Jac, again. "SO, WHAT, JACK? YOU JUST COULDN'T KEEP IT IN YOUR PANTS, COULD YOU?" he yelled without losing pace.

"JACOB! You have to stop trying to KILL me and listen! Jacob!" Jack squawked, continuing his run. Just then, Jack looked up and saw General Hammond standing in the doorway. "General, a little help!" Jack screeched.

General Hammond walked into the lab. "Jacob," he said, in a very calm voice. "I really wish you would have waited until I got off the phone and had a chance to explain a few things."

Jack noticed the small smirk on Hammond's face and wondered exactly how long he was standing at the door, a silent spectator, before Jack noticed him there.

"George!" Jacob said, stopping and turning to face his old friend. "Care to explain what the hell is going on."

"Please!" Jack cried, coming around the table, but hiding behind Sam. (Jacob wouldn't hurt his pregnant daughter, right?)

General Hammond shut the door to the lab and motioned for everyone to assemble around the table. Jack stayed behind Sam, still quite afraid for his life. Plus, he had his hands on Sam's hips and was enjoying the contact.

"Jacob, a rogue asgaard impregnated Major Carter with Col. O'Neill's sperm. We discovered her pregnancy when she was two and a half months along. She made the choice to keep the baby and was removed from SG-1 and assigned to the labs."

"So, because of some rogue alien, my daughter's career has been ruined!" Jacob retorted, raising his voice in anger.

"Dad, my career is none of your business," Sam announced, anger in her own voice.

"Oh, you know it's true, Sam. You're already working in a man's career. And now this! You shouldn't have to deal with all this!"

"Jacob," Jack started, trying to change the subject.

"Jack, don't you _even_ start with me! What? As soon as my daughter gets removed from your team, you move right on in. So help me, O'Neill, if you're taking advantage of her…."

"JACOB!" Jack yelled, anger now prominent on his face. "You know me way better than that! I respect Sam way too much to take advantage of her. I would _never _do anything to hurt her!"

Jacob, to his credit, actually looked shame-faced. _Finally_, Selmac made an appearance. "Col. O'Neill, Samantha, I would like to apologize for Jacob's behavior. He is very upset about the asgaard's interference, but wants you both to know, he does not blame either of you."

"Could've fooled me," Jack yelped. "Where the heck were you when Jacob was chasing me around the lab?"

"I apologize, Col. O'Neill. It is a very rare occasion to see you so……fearful. I am afraid I was finding the situation……quite…….interesting."

Jack gaped at the tok'ra's confession while Sam and General Hammond tried desperately to hide their grins.

"Well, now that everything is a little bit more relaxed in here, I do have a mountain to run. I think I will leave the three of you to talk," Hammond announced, moving towards the door. Turning around, he looked at Col. O'Neill with a smirk. "Uh, Colonel, if you would like to keep your reputation as a tough, macho colonel, you may want to stop by the surveillance room before they start selling copies."

"Shit!" Jack groaned, thinking about how much he was going to have to bribe the SF's to give him the surveillance tape to the lab. The last thing he needed was the SG-3 marines making fun of him for being chased around a lab table by a retired major-general with a 2,000 year old tok'ra symbiote!

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Shortly after General Hammond left, Jack was paged to the gate room. Incredibly happy to be getting away from Jacob, Jack headed out of the room, squeezing Sam's hand, inconspicuously, on his way.

"Did he really think I didn't see that?" Jacob asked his daughter, once Jack was out of sight.

"Dad, I really don't care if you did." Sam replied.

"Sammie, I just want what's best for you. How can you just give up your career like this?"

"Dad," Sam started, looking up at her dad with a serious expression on her face. "I don't think of it as ruining my career…..I think of it as getting a life. A life that I have denied myself for way too long."

"Are you happy?" Jacob asked.

"Yes, Dad. For the first time in a very long time, I am really, truly happy," Sam finished, a giant smile on her face.

"You love him." It wasn't a question.

"I have for a long time, Dad," she announced.

"I know," he said, while coming around the table and hugging his daughter for the first time since his arrival.

After they parted from their embrace. Sam showed Jacob the results of the scans, and the two (three, including Selmac) started their work on the dead warrior.

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The following week was hectic for everyone. Other than a few stolen moments here and there, Sam and Jack had no alone time together. While Daniel had gone to Central America in hopes of finding an ancient device to use against the new Super Soldiers, the rest of SG-1 was continuously off-world gathering more intel. And, Sam spent the majority of each day cooped up in her lab with her dad.

It was one of those rare moments where she was actually alone in her lab when Jack had come in to see her. A worrisome look on his face. "Hey," he said, softly coming in the door.

"Hey, yourself," Sam replied, smiling and reaching out for him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.

"Where's your dad?"

"He's not back from the Tok'ra High Council Meeting yet," Sam told him, snuggling deeper into his shoulder.

"Ah! Um, I just came from Hammond's office, he's sending me after Daniel."

Sam pulled off his shoulder to look in his face. "Are you going to be okay?" she asked, fear on her face.

"Of course," he answered, smiling at her and then leaning down to capture her lips in a kiss. The kiss was soft, slow and so full of emotion, Sam wondered if Jack was trying to send her some kind of secret message with his lips and tongue.

When they finally pulled away, Sam looked up into his handsome face and smiled a sweet, sad smile. "Be careful," she ordered, in almost a whisper. "And bring Daniel back safe."

"Promise," he said, smirking his patented O'Neill smirk and capturing her lips one more time. When their lips finally parted, Jack looked deep in Sam's eyes and then gathered her into a hug. "I'll be fine," he said, trying to reassure her.

But, Sam knew him very well and could hear the doubt in his voice. She knew Central America was dangerous and was more worried about Jack going there than she was with him going off-world.

Jack, reluctantly, pulled out of their embrace, and, after one more deep gaze, headed to the door.

"You're leaving now?" Sam asked, a little surprised.

"Yeah, plane's waiting," Jack answered, sheepishly. Feeling bad he hadn't mentioned it before then.

"Oh," Sam replied, worry and disappointment evident in her voice.

Jack stood at the door for several seconds, shuffling from foot-to-foot. Trying to build up the courage to do what he had planned to do on his way to her lab. "Sam," his voice croaked out.

"Yeah," she said, her eyes had never left him since he pulled out of her embrace.

He kept eye contact and, after swallowing the lump in his throat announced, "I love you."

Sam smiled, worry still in her eyes. Ecstatic that Jack had confessed his love to her, but equally worried about his mission. She walked over to him at the door, and, once she reached him, looked up into his deep, dark, emotion-filled eyes. "I love you too, Jack."

He grabbed her and pulled her against him once again. "Oh God, Sam! I promise I'll be back. I promise!"

"I know, I know. I love you so much, Jack," Sam cried.

"I know, Sam. I love you more than anything." With that, he captured her lips in a passionate kiss, displaying his love for her the best way he could before heading out to the awaiting plane.

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	11. Chapter 11

Warning: This chapter contains sexual situations, nothing graphic.

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Sam was incredibly uncomfortable. She and Jack had been driving in his truck for hours. They had decided it would be best to drive to Minnesota instead of fly because of how far along Sam was. However, with the horrible heartburn, and chronic back pain the whole trip, Sam was starting to regret their decision.

The last few weeks went by very fast and with Sam modifying the weapon to use against Anubis' Kull Warriors, her and Jack's relationship was, once again, put on the back burner. Which was starting to get very frustrating for Sam.

She knew there was nothing they could do about it but, she was feeling fat and unattractive and really wanted to have sex. They had already professed their love for each other and she really wanted to take that next step. Her whole body was craving the physical intimacy that can only be achieved by making love. It was getting to the point where Jack's touches and kisses were feeling more like teases.

Shortly after passing a small town that Sam thought looked exactly like the towns that were always in old black and white movies (that is until she saw the Super Walmart), they turned off the main road and on to a two path driveway.

Sam looked around at the hundreds of trees on each side of the driveway and realized Jack's parents lived in the middle of a forest. 'Hmm, no wonder he always seems so outdoorsy,' she thought to herself as they came into a large clearing.

In the middle of the clearing was a huge, beautiful log house. Sam immediately thought it looked very much like a bed and breakfast inn she had been to years before. The two-path led right to the garage, but Sam noticed several cars parked all over the clearing.

Jack pulled off the path and parked in an open spot in the clearing, next to the woods.

"We're here," he said softly, after turning off the engine and looking over at Sam.

"Thank God!" Sam moaned. "I have to get out and stretch."

Jack jumped out of his truck and ran over to help Sam out, there were ferns as high as his truck door on Sam's side, so he had to stomp them down with his feet before opening the door.

As soon as they came back around the truck, Jack took Sam's hand and squeezed it gently. "Ready?" he asked softly.

Sam swallowed the nervous lump in her throat. "Yeah."

Just then, a young boy who looked to be about 12, came into view. "Hey, Uncle Jack! Long time no see!" he exclaimed, walking up to Sam and Jack, bouncing a football in his hands.

"Hey, Eric. Man, you've grown. What's your mom feeding you?" Jack asked the young boy.

"Too many vegetables and not enough junk food!" the boy answered with a classic O'Neill cocky grin.

"Well, I'll have to have one of those big brother talks with her," Jack told him, grinning and ruffling his hair playfully. "Eric, I want you to meet Sam," Jack said, pulling Sam closer to him.

"Hi, Sam," the boy said jubilantly. "You're really pretty!"

"Thank-you. It's nice to meet you," Sam replied.

Jack's nephew smiled up at them and then, hearing his name being called from some other kids in the woods, waved 'bye' and headed off in that direction.

"Whose is he?" Sam asked, watching the boy run off with a smile on her face. The kid was darn cute.

"He's Rebecca's youngest. Come on, it looks like we've been spotted," Jack said, while pulling Sam towards the house.

Sam looked in the direction she was being led and noticed a group of people coming out of the house. The nervous lump returned to her throat.

Sam spotted Jack's dad immediately. He was taller than everyone else so he stuck out quite obviously. He looked like he was, at least, one or two inches taller than Jack. He was thin, but not as thin as Jack, and had a head full of white hair. Sam could tell Jack looked a lot like his father, even from a distance. But, as they came closer, Sam was surprised to see bright blue eyes the color of the sky, instead of the deep, dark brown eyes she's used to.

Sam's eyes, then fell on a short woman walking next to Jack's dad. Sam was shocked when she took in who was obviously Jack's mom. She looked nothing like Sam pictured.

Instead of the tall, masculine woman, she was expecting Jack's mom to be, was a short, small woman with dark brown eyes, long gray hair, pulled back in a braid and dark skin, darker than Jack's. Sam guessed she was about 5'5", not too short in it's own right, but quite short when standing next to a great, big Irish man standing at a good 6'5".

"Oh, Samantha dear, you are just positively glowing!" The woman exclaimed, with a huge smile on her face as she approached Jack and Sam.

Before Sam knew what was happening, the small woman had pulled her into an affectionate hug. "Oh, it is so good to finally meet you dear! You don't know how long this old lady's been waiting for this day," Jack's mom pulled back and then reached down and stroked Sam's protruding belly. "Hello there, little one. I'm your Nana," she said to Sam's stomach while still rubbing it.

Sam, who was a little surprised over the woman's affectionate attack, just stood there smiling.

"It's very nice to meet you, Mrs. O'Neill," Sam said, when the woman finally pulled away from her stomach.

"Oh, sweetie, please don't call me Mrs. O'Neill. Please, call me mom."

Sam looked at the woman uncomfortably. A look that the older woman recognized immediately. "Or you can call me Maggie. Until you get to know me a little better and feel comfortable calling me mom," she said, smiling, understandably at Sam.

"Thank-you," Sam said softly, still smiling at the lovely woman.

Jack introduced Sam to the swarm of people gathered around them. "Sam, this is my dad, Charles." Sam smiled up at the man and shook his hand. He had a very affectionate smile and Sam liked him immediately. "This is Robert and his wife Monica." Robert was just as tall as Jack, but, he had his dad's fair complexion, blonde hair with wisps of white through it, and blue eyes.

Monica was tall and slightly pudgy with short dark hair and a happy face. Sam thought she looked like a very nice person.

"This is Rebecca and her husband, Tom." Jack said, pointing to the couple next to Robert. Rebecca was very much a mixture of her mom and dad. She was the same height as her mom and had her mother's dark complexion. But, everything else was her dad. She had her dad's bright, blue eyes and long blonde hair, the contrast with the dark skin making her look absolutely stunning. Tom was Sam's height and, although he was quite bald, was quite handsome.

The rest of Jack's siblings hadn't arrived yet, so after making introductions, Jack helped usher Sam into the awaiting house. Sam was amazed by the beauty inside the home. It was obvious Jack's parents had wonderful taste.

Jack took Sam on a tour of the house, explaining the function of each room, sarcastically. 'Like she didn't know what a kitchen or bathroom was used for!' Walking into a small room at the back of the house, Jack turned to Sam. "This is my mother's sewing room. She can spend hours in here, making anything from new drapes to a new dress," Jack announced. "Don't be surprised if she's already made two or three things for Gracie."

Sam smiled. Looking around the room, Sam noticed all of the Native American pictures and pottery in the room. Putting two and two together, Sam looked at Jack. "Your mom's Native American?"

"Yeah," Jack answered, not at all surprised that Sam noticed. "Her great-great grandma was from the Potawatomi tribe. She was married to a white man just before the government moved them all to the west of the Mississippi. She was able to spend her whole life in Illinois."

"Is your mom from Illinois?" Sam asked, curious about Jack's family.

"Yeah. She and my dad met during World War II. My dad was in a ground patrol unit and my mom was a nurse. They got married shortly after the war ended. My dad stayed in the Army for a few years afterwards. While he was finishing up his service, my mom was living in Chicago with her parents. That's where I was born. When I was a few years old, my dad finally got out and moved us all here."

"Wow! I always wondered why you had a tan all year long," Sam said, grinning at Jack.

"What? It's so diluted now. I have like .001percent Indian. I've got way more Irish blood."

"Still, it's enough to give you that great skin," she replied, reaching over and rubbing Jack's forearm.

Jack just grinned and pulled her into a hug. "Wanna see my room?" he asked.

"Oh yeah," she exclaimed, teasingly.

It was obvious Jack's parents didn't change a thing in Jack's room since he left home. There were hockey trophies, sports posters, a chess board and all sorts of old worn-out athletic equipment all over Jack's room.

Sam had a huge grin on her face as she took in the vintage room. "This is great!" She said, laughing as she picked up a framed picture of Jack when he was about 10. All dressed up in his pee-wee hockey uniform. "Look how cute you were!"

"Please, Sam. I'm wearing a hockey uniform. I'm supposed to look threatening, not cute," Jack announced, snatching the picture out of Sam's hands and setting it back down on the shelf.

"Jackie, Samantha! Carolyn and James just arrived. Come on down," came Maggie's voice from downstairs.

"Oh great," Jack said, distastefully.

"Is she really that bad?" Sam asked, a little worried about meeting Jack's so-called snobby sister.

"Oh yeah! She's like an ice-queen. She could give Niirti a run for her money. And, whatever you do, don't call James, Jimmy, Jim, Jimbo….nothing but James. She goes ballistic. She named him James and that is what he is to be called," Jack finished, in a high-pitched voice, mocking his sister. With that, they left the serenity of Jack's old bedroom and headed downstairs.

"Carolyn," Jack said icily as they approached a woman surrounded by Jack's parents.

She was taller than Sam and had long, dark hair. Her eyes were identical to Jack's,

minus the warmth that radiated from his. She was dressed very elegantly, but there was just something about her that reminded Sam of 'Cruella DeVille'.

"Jonathon," she replied, just as icily.

"Hey, Jimbo! What's up?" Jack said merrily to the young man standing next to his mother.

"Hello, Uncle Jack. How are you?" the boy answered politely, and smiled at his uncle.

"Do not talk to him, James, if he cannot call you by your given name," Carolyn cooly said to her son.

The boy looked apologetically towards Jack, who just shrugged and replied. "Well, it's good to see you haven't changed, Carolyn, stick still up your ass and all."

Sam, surprised by Jack's comeback to the rude woman, tried hard to keep a straight face, but, unable to hide it, a smile erupted.

Carolyn rolled her eyes at Jack, and after spotting Sam's smile, gave her a dirty look. "So, what, Jonathon, couldn't get anyone your own age, so you had to rob the cradle."

"DON'T YOU DARE BE RUDE TO SAM!" he yelled at his sister, very angrily.

"Ooh, touchy, touchy. She must have you pretty whipped," Carolyn said, not even phased at her brother's anger. She then turned, scoffed, and left the room.

"Bitch, Jack muttered in her wake.

Sam, knowing his sister's comment about their age difference upset him, wrapped him in a hug. "You were right, she could give Niirti a run for her money."

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Before long, the rest of Jack' family arrived and Sam was thrown into a merry family reunion. Sam soon found out that all of Jack's sisters talked just as much as Lizzie and she was, once again, feeling like her head was going to explode from so much information. Even Jack's nieces were non-stop talkers!

By 2100, Sam was feeling the effects of the long day and started yawning, uncontrollably. Jack, noticing Sam's outburst of yawns, told everyone good-night and then led Sam up to his bedroom.

"I love your family, Jack," Sam said, when they were finally alone in the bedroom.

"Yeah, they're alright. I'm glad you like them," he said warmly, standing nervously at the door. "Uh, you want me to leave so you can change?"

"No, why would I?" Sam asked, quietly.

"Uh," was all Jack got out. Sam had, after pulling her pajamas out of her bag, pulled her shirt off over her head and was unclasping her bra.

"Sam! What are you doing?" Jack croaked out.

"Changing," Sam answered, a confused look on her face.

"Right in front of me!" Jack shrieked, an embarrassed look on his face.

Sam stopped and looked at Jack. She was topless, her breasts on full display in front of him. "Jack, you've already kissed almost every inch of skin on my body, does it really matter if I change in front of you?"

"Yes!" he squealed.

"Why?"

"Because, Sam!…………. Seeing you undress in front of me is a..a….major turn-on."

"What?" Sam laughed, completely surprised at Jack's confession.

"You heard me," he said, advancing on her. "You…undressing in front of me….is totally hot."

Sam laughed. "Prove it," she dared him with a seductive look.

"Ooh. That, Major, can be arranged," he growled while thrusting himself against her.

"Hmm," she moaned, as he leaned down and started sucking on her neck. "Jack, please," she hissed.

"What?" Jack quietly asked, pulling away and looking at Sam, a perplexed look on his face. He thought she was asking him to stop and was confused and worried that he might be rushing her.

Sam looked up at him, her cheeks rosy and a complete look of lust on her face. "Make love to me, Jack…..Please," she purred, her voice desperate as she looked in Jack's deep, passionate eyes.

Jack didn't have to be asked twice, and, with an equally lustful look on his face, he greedily captured Sam's lips while his hands explored her body, removing the rest of her clothing along the way.

Once all clothes were removed, Jack gently led her over to the bed. Even 8 months pregnant, Sam's naked body was a sight Jack could look at forever. He once again, trailed his hands and lips over every inch of Sam's body.

Memorizing every mole, birth mark and scar. This time, they were not interrupted, and they passionately made love for the first time. It was slow and sweet and everything Sam's body had been yearning for months. They came together, crying each others name in a whirlwind of passion. It was everything Sam dreamed of for 7 long years, it was perfect. Collapsed in each other's arms, Sam looked at Jack and whispered, "Thank you."

Jack kissed her on the forehead. "No, no. Thank you. I just made love to the hottest woman in the galaxy on the bed I had my first wet dream in," Jack replied, smirking.

"Ewww! Way too much information. I really hope these are clean sheets," Sam exclaimed, laughing at Jack's grotesque comment and swatting him on his bare chest.

Jack pulled her on top of him and captured her lips once again. "Well, they were clean, can't say as they are anymore," he grinned and started another slow assault on Sam's body.

After making love for a second time that evening, they fell asleep in each others arms, blissfully exhausted. In the seven years they had known each other, Sam and Jack had imagined a thousand different places they could make love for the first time. However, Jack's childhood bed had never crossed either of their minds, and yet, in the room Jack grew up in, their first night of love-making was absolutely everything they ever dreamed it would be.

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The rest of the weekend was wonderful. Sam got to know all of Jack's family very well. Some of Jack's older nephews developed crushes on her, while his nieces idolized her. Jack's brother Patrick, who really did look almost exactly like Jack, kept hitting on her, claiming he was a better man than Jack. And, even Carolyn said a few nice things about Sam.

As much as Carolyn and Jack hated each other, Carolyn was still impressed with Sam being so successful in a man's career. Something Carolyn, as an attorney, could understand and admire.

And so, on Monday morning, Sam cried right along with the other O'Neill women as she and Jack loaded back up in his truck and started their long journey home.

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	12. Chapter 12

a/n: The next two chapters go along with season 7's finale 'Lost City' If you haven't seen that 2-part episode, you may not be able to follow the next two chapters very well. If you haven't seen the episodes, but, don't mind spoilers, Gateworld has very nicely written summaries for every episode of Stargate.

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Sam had been on cloud nine for weeks. Ever since their first time in Minnesota, Sam and Jack's relationship had gone up another step. Everything was perfect.

She had everything she could possibly want in life. Great friends, a great career, the man she'd always wanted and a baby on the way. Life was, for once, on her side.

It was now public knowledge that Sam and Jack were finally together, in every way possible. So, for the first time since their first meeting that fateful day in the briefing room, they no longer had to hide their looks, feelings, touches. It was great! Sam's life was perfect.

She had been in the nursery for hours. The SGC had thrown her and Jack a huge baby shower the day before and she was busy putting all Grace's new stuff away in the room.

The party had a huge turn-out and Sam had mounds of work ahead of her still. Sam was putting all the newly-washed outfits away in their proper drawers. The SG-3 Marines had gone to the PX at Peterson and bought really cute novelty onesies. When Sam had first opened the present, Jack read them and scowled, but Sam thought they were very cute. One of them said, "Marines Do It Better," and another said, "My Daddy's A Flyboy (I hope I take after my mom), which didn't make a whole lot of sense since Sam was Air Force, too. But, it was still funny.

Sam's absolute favorite onesie, though, was one that Col. Reynolds picked up on one of his recent trips to Area 51. He had stopped at a roadside tourist shop and found a onesie with a drawing of the 'Roswell Gray' alien on the front. Who, of course, held a striking resemblance to Thor. Underneath the drawing were the simple words, "We're Not Alone." Sam thought it was great. Especially considering how Gracie was conceived.

Sam had just finished putting all the onesies in the top dresser drawer when Jack walked in the room and wrapped his arms around her from behind, kissing her softly on the neck. "Hey, how's it coming?"

"Good. I've got the majority of the clothes put away. I have no idea where to put all these dolls and stuffed animals, though," Sam sighed, leaning back against him.

"I'll build some shelves and buy a toy box. Probably should've already picked up one of those. Hmm, I wonder if we can find one designed like a space ship, it'd look great in here."

"If not, we could probably build one," Sam threw in.

"Yeah, that'd be sweet! We could make it look like a death glider," Jack exclaimed, getting excited. "Oh yeah," he said a second later, his voice dropping it's enthusiasm. "Daniel just called, he wants us to come in."

"What? Why? We're supposed to have today off?" Sam whined. It was a rare thing for her and Jack to get the same day off, and she was really looking forward to spending the whole day with him.

"Oh, Daniel thinks he found another one of those ancient suck-your-brains-out machines again," Jack answered, nonchalantly.

"An ancient repository of knowledge," Sam translated, excitement coming into her voice, as she turned around to face Jack.

"Yeah, that. He thinks if we can take it apart, he can find out where the ancient city is."

"Well, technically, it is possible, if we can figure out how to…."

"Ah, ah, ah, ah, ahh!" Jack said, cutting her off and shaking his finger at her. "No science talk in the baby's room!"

Sam gave him a funny look.

"What? Odds are Grace is going to get your brains, so it's obvious there's only going to be a few years that I will actually be smarter than her. So, _you_ don't get to take those years away from me by talking science to her. At least until she's……two."

"One," Sam countered, laughing.

"One and a half, and that's my final offer!"

"Deal," Sam laughed.

"Deal….Why do I feel like I got the short end of the straw here?" Jack asked, jokingly.

Sam just shrugged, and, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, pulled him into a kiss. Her life was perfect!

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Sam was going over reports with General Hammond when the klaxons sounded. SG-1, SG-3 and SG-5 had all left for the planet with the ancient repository on it a few short hours ago.

Sam had developed a huge feeling of dread the moment Jack walked through the gate that she just couldn't shake. So, when the klaxons sounded, she went running as fast as she could, being as pregnant as she was, to the gate room.

Just as General Hammond caught up with her, Jack walked through the gate. He looked at her with a grave look on his face and she knew immediately something was terribly wrong.

"Colonel, report!" General Hammond ordered upon seeing the look on his second-in-command's face.

"Sir, Anubis' troops showed up. I had no other choice, Daniel and Hailey couldn't figure out how to remove it," Jack turned to face Sam, an incredibly sad look on his face. "I got my head sucked again, sir," he finished, turning his gaze back to Hammond.

Sam's heart fell into her stomach. Her face went completely pale and she started seeing spots in her vision. "Oh God!" she cried. "No, Jack, how could you? No!"

"Sam," he said softly, wrapping her in his arms before she collapsed. "You know why. I had to do it. There was no other choice." He held her tightly while she cried into his shoulder. No one was brave enough to interrupt them and so, everyone else cleared out of the gate room to allow them some privacy.

When Sam finally composed herself, they headed to the briefing room where the other members of the teams were waiting with General Hammond. After everyone debriefed Hammond on the mission, Jack, who had remained quiet throughout the debriefing, holding Sam's hand under the table, spoke up.

"Sir, last time this happened it took a few days before it started rewriting my brain. I'd like to request for Major Carter and I to have the weekend off to get my affairs in order."

"Certainly, son," Hammond replied, a sad expression on his face. "Dismissed!"

Jack pulled Sam out of her seat. "Come on," he said to her, leading her out of the room and towards the elevators.

"Where are we going?" she asked as he dragged her down the hall.

"Out of here," he replied.

After leaving the mountain and getting in his truck, Jack drove them home. "Pack a bag for the weekend," he said to her as they walked in their house. He headed straight to the computer and went online.

"What are you doing? Where are we going?" Sam asked, worried and curious.

"You'll see. Now go pack," he said, dismissing her as the sight he was searching for came up on the screen.

After buying the airline tickets and hotel room. Jack walked into the bedroom where Sam was quietly packing, tears sliding down her face. He went to the closet and pulled a small lock box out of it. Opening it up with his back to Sam, he pulled out a smaller box and turned around to face Sam.

Sam had her own back to him as she shuffled through her drawers trying to figure out what clothes she wanted to take, having no idea where they were going.

"Sam," Jack said softly, nervousness evident in his voice.

Sam, recognizing the tone, turned slowly to face him. "Yes?" she questioned.

"Will you marry me?" he asked, looking in her eyes to see every emotion that crossed them. Surprise was the first to make an appearance.

"What?" she asked, totally taken off-guard. "Are, are you serious?"

"Yes, Sam. I'm very serious," he said softly, pulling the ring out of the box.

"Wha-where, where did you get that?" she asked, still in shock.

"I bought it the day after we came back from Minnesota. I-I knew before then, but, I thought, it was too soon before. But, in Minnesota, after…..you know…. I knew I couldn't keep putting it off. So, I bought the ring so…..I'd have it when I got up the nerve to ask."

"Oh Jack!" Sam cried, covering her mouth with her hands as new tears started the familiar path down her cheeks.

"Sam, I love you. I don't know what's going to happen this time. The only thing I want is for you to be my wife. Please, Sam. Please say yes."

"Oh God, Jack! Yes, yes! Of course I'll marry you."

With that, Jack slid the ring on Sam's finger and hugged her with all the strength he had. Tears running down his own cheeks, he silently prayed that he would pull through this and have many years married to the woman he loved with all his heart.

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Sam walked to the closet and started frantically pulling dress after dress out of it. "I have nothing to wear!" She whined, frustrated.

"Sam, we're flying at the spur of the moment to Las Vegas, where we will, more than likely, be married by a man who's dressed up like Elvis. I really don't think it matters what you where," he said, trying to calm her down.

She turned and looked at him, sadness clearly written on her face. "It matters to me, Jack."

Jack walked over and wrapped his arms around her. "Just pick your favorite dress, Sam. When all of this saving-the-world-again crap is over, we'll have a real wedding. White dress, flowers, bridesmaids, the whole nine yards. Only the best for my wife," he said quietly to her, stroking her cheek and soothing her frustration away.

"A mini-van?" Sam asked quietly, looking up at Jack.

Jack gave her a perplexed look. "What?"

"Before, when we first found everything out from Thor. You said your intentions were to marry me, move me into your house, raise our child and buy me a mini-van. I'm already living with you, the baby's on her way and once we get married, the only thing left is for you to buy me a mini-van."

Jack laughed out loud heartily. "I can't believe you remember that!" He laughed again. "Geez, Sam. You never cease to amaze me." He leaned down and captured her lips in a passionate kiss. Pulling away he looked at her with a sparkle in his eyes. "I promise to buy you the absolute greatest mini-van on the market. Like I said, only the best for my wife."

"I must be the luckiest woman in the world," Sam laughed, while leaning up to kiss Jack once again.

Sam picked out her favorite maternity dress and then finished packing. Once they were both ready, they headed out the door. Next stop-Vegas!

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Sam and Jack checked into their hotel upon arriving in Las Vegas and quickly changed into their 'wedding attire'. Jack had received a list of wedding chapels in the city when he checked them in and was trying to find the perfect one for them.

"How do I look?" Sam asked, coming out of the bathroom. She was wearing a light pink, spaghetti-strap maternity dress. She had teased what she could of her hair and had on more make-up than what Jack was used to seeing on her. He thought she looked like an angel.

"You look like you belong in heaven," he said truthfully, hopping off the end of the bed and tentatively reaching out to touch her, wondering if it was all a dream. When his warm hand touched her soft skin, he knew he was going to treasure every second he was married to this beautiful woman.

They had decided against getting married by Elvis and instead, settled on a small white wedding chapel smack dab in the middle of two giant buildings. The small, old-fashioned chapel looked completely out of place between the metal giants. Sam and Jack thought it was perfect!

The minister was a sweet old man who had to be in his 80's. His wife was just as sweet, and since Sam and Jack had no maid of honor or best man, stood in as their witness.

The wedding was very basic. Just the obligatory "I do's". But, before the minister had the chance to say 'you may now kiss the bride', Jack asked if he could say something. Sam wasn't expecting this and looked surprisingly at Jack.

"Sam," he said, clasping both her hands in his. "The first time I met you…..I was speechless. You threw me completely off-guard. I thought I had my life all figured out. I was just coming back from retirement. Incredibly cocky. Thought I could handle anything. And, then…… you walked in the door. You were so beautiful….And, just as cocky. I didn't know it at the time, but, I fell in love with you, right then. You amazed me that day. Not just with your beauty, but your mind, your personality, your guts. Everything. For the first time in a very long time, I was happy to be alive. I felt alive again. You saved me, Sam. In more ways than you realize. Everyday I woke up looking forward to seeing you, those eyes of yours, that smile, the way your face lights up when you laugh. You had so quickly become such a huge part of my life that before I knew it, I realized I couldn't live without you. I love you more than I ever thought was possible to love. I just….I just want to say…that, you becoming my wife is the greatest gift you could ever give me, and I will never, ever take it for granted."

Sam was crying openly, holding Jack's hands tight as he finished. "Oh, Jack!" she cried. "You're the greatest gift to me. I love you so much, for so long! You're everything to me. I will do anything for you," she managed to croak out between sobs.

Jack pulled her close and kissed her passionately. "Uh, you may kiss the bride," the minister said, smiling at the happy couple and closing the bible in his hands.

Neither Jack nor Sam had any desire to gamble, or do anything else for that matter. So, they spent the rest of the weekend in their honeymoon suite. Consummating their marriage, many, many times. The only people who could tell you what the newlyweds in the honeymoon suite looked like were the room service attendants and the bell-hop who retrieved their bags early Monday morning.

Jack had booked a flight out at 0500 Monday morning so they could make it back into the mountain by 0800. And, so, at 0450, Monday morning, they reluctantly boarded their flight and waited for it to fly them back to their dreaded reality.

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	13. Chapter 13

a/n: By this time in season 7, Janet is supposed to be dead. However, I don't have the heart to admit she's dead. So, instead, I wrote the doctor scene without actually saying it was Janet. If you want it to be Janet, it's Janet, if you want to go along with Janet being dead, it's a different doctor. Your choice!

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As soon as they entered the mountain, Sam became sick. So far away from everyone, she was easily able to forget that Jack could very well be on borrowed time. But, once they were back home, the reality of their situation came crashing back down on her.

It didn't help that once they entered the briefing room, they were greeted by Senator Kinsey and told that General Hammond had been reassigned and in his place was a civilian.

Dr. Elizabeth Weir seemed nice enough, but Sam was worried that Sen. Kinsey was going to influence her not to let SG-1 go through the gate when Jack figured out where the Lost City was located.

During the meeting, Jack started speaking Ancient, surprising everyone at the table. Knowing that the Ancient knowledge was now beginning to take over Jack's brain caused Sam to worry even more. Something that Jack was concerned about. He knew stress wasn't good for the baby, but with Anubis on the way, it was now the whole planet in danger, not just him, and he had no idea how to keep her from stressing out.

He tried to talk to her, soothe her with his witty humor. But, when he started spouting foreign words in the middle of his jokes, his plan backfired and he could tell he was just causing Sam to stress out more. So, he decided the best thing was to remain as quiet as possible.

Before either of them knew it, Jack had come up with a gate address and with Master Bra'tac's help, they had procured a ship to take them there. The stress was getting to be too much for Sam. She was trying so hard to stay calm, but the truth was, her heart was racing, her back was aching and her stomach had knots the size of basketballs in it. No matter what she tried, she couldn't relax!

Jack had gathered all the supplies they would need on their trip and had them ready to go in the gate room. Dr. Weir had given them the 'go-ahead' and Walter was dialing up the gate. Jack turned to look at Sam standing beside him. She looked absolutely terrified! Jack was certain he had never seen her look so afraid. Her face was as white as a ghost and her eyes were red from crying so much.

"Hey," he said softly to her, pulling her towards the wall in a lame attempt for some privacy. "I love you," he said softly to her.

"I love you, too, Jack. I wish I could go with you. Please, promise me you'll be back," she cried softly, wiping the tears out of her eyes before they fell down her cheeks. She hated how emotional being pregnant made her.

"Colonel. You have a go!" came Weir's voice over the intercom. Jack looked up at the control room and lightly nodded his head.

"I'll be back, Sam. I promise," he told her as he looked back into her water-filled eyes. He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips. "I've gotta go," he whispered, his forehead pressed against hers.

"I know," she whispered back. "Ahh!" she yelped in surprise and then looked down at the ground. "Oh my God! Jack! My water just broke!"

"What?" he shrieked in surprise and then stepped back to look at the puddle at Sam's feet. "Get a medical team down here," he turned and yelled up at the control room. "Sam just went into labor!"

"Colonel!" Came Weir's voice from the control room. "The gate is still on, are we postponing this mission?" she asked in a very professional manner.

Jack looked at the freaked-out and completely scared look on Sam's face. "Sam," he said softly to her. "I want to be here so much. I've looked forward to this day for so long……..But…I have to go. I have to save you and Gracie. I have to go," he murmured, the saddest look on his face.

"I know. We'll be fine. It's okay. Go do what you do. Go be my hero," she whispered in his ear just before her face scrunched up in a look of pain. "Oh God! I'm having contractions!" she cried.

Jack squeezed her hands while a feeling of dread grew in his gut at having to leave Sam like this. The medics came running into the gate room with a wheel-chair. Jack reluctantly let her go as the medics put her in the chair and wheeled her out of the room.

He stood, frozen in his spot, until the blast doors were shut behind their retreating forms. Then, he looked up at the control room, a complete look of despair on his face. "Take care of her!" he croaked loudly to all of them.

"We will, Colonel, don't worry. Good luck, now go save the world." And, with that, he walked up the ramp and through the gate. His body was leaving Earth, but his heart remained with his wife and what she was about to go through.

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Dr. Weir could hear Major Carter screaming as soon as she got off the elevator. With the world in imminent danger, everyone was on high alert and Weir was just barely able to squeeze in five minutes to come and check on the mother-to-be.

Anubis' ships had been detected on Norad's deep space radar and they still had received no word from SG-1. "How is she, doctor?" she asked, coming into the infirmary and approaching the first person in a white coat she saw.

"Well, she's going to have a really bad sore throat by the time that baby decides to join the world," The brunette doctor responded jokingly, as Sam let out another scream.

Dr. Weir smiled.

"All in all. Major Carter is extremely tired. Twenty hours of active labor can do that to a person. We've given her drugs to speed up delivery, but it appears that the protein marker in her blood is somehow interfering with it's effectiveness. Her blood pressure is slightly elevated, but it's still within range, so at this point we're just keeping a close eye on it. The baby's heart rate is beginning to become erratic and if she doesn't have the baby in the next few hours, we're going to have to do a C-section."

"Do everything you can, doctor. If Col. O'Neill succeeds on his mission, I would hate to have to be the one to tell him we were unable to take care of his wife and child."

"I understand, Ma'am. Trust me, I have absolutely no intention of letting anything happen to mother or daughter."

"Ahhhh!" Came a scream from Major Carter. "GET THIS THING OUT OF ME!" she screamed as another contraction hit. "THAT'S AN ORDER!" she yelled, as if it would help her at all.

"Sam, Sam. Breathe! Honey, you have to breathe. You can do this," the petite doctor said after leaving Dr. Weir's side and running over to Sam's bed and holding her hand.

One of the machines hooked up to the major started beeping loudly. The doctor grabbed an oxygen mask off the table beside the bed and placed it over Sam's mouth. "Sam, you have to take deep breaths. Sam, the baby needs more oxygen. Breathe! Damnit, Sam! Breathe!"

"It hurts," Sam hoarsely whispered.

"I know, Sweetie, I know. But, you can do this. You've been through way worse than this, Sam."

Elizabeth Weir watched from the other side of the room as the doctor put on a glove and checked Sam. "Sam, honey, your 9 centimeters. You're almost there! It's almost over, Sam. You're going to be ready to push very soon."

"Oh God! That's not soon enough," Sam cried as her body was taken over by another contraction.

Dr. Weir felt horrible for Major Carter. She couldn't believe everything this woman was currently going through. She was going through a hard labor while her husband was on a mission on the other side of the galaxy. Not to mention, she was fully aware of the threat to Earth and had to worry that she was bringing her baby into a world that was about to be destroyed.

Elizabeth was sure if she was in this woman's place, there was no way she could handle it all. After watching Major Carter in pain for a few more minutes, she realized she needed to get back to the control room. Taking one more look at the pain-filled woman on the bed, Dr. Weir scrunched up her face and promised herself to adopt if she ever had the desire to be a mom before heading out the door.

"OH GOD!" Sam screamed again, writhing in pain. "I WANT JACK! DAMN IT, HE SHOULD BE HERE! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU COLONEL?"

Dr. Weir could hear her yelling as she walked back towards the elevators. "That's a good question. Where _are_ you, Colonel?" she whispered softly as she hit the button for level 28. Unaware that the man she was asking about was hurriedly on his way back to Earth, trying to save the planet in time.

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **

Jack could no longer speak English and his ability to understand it was decreasing at an alarming rate. They were in Antarctica, under the ice, in an Ancient room. Jack was incredibly tired. He had never felt so completely drained before in his life. He had to save the world. Save Sam. Save Gracie. So much was going through his brain. It hurt! He couldn't process it. He just wanted it all to be over. He walked to the chair in the middle of the room, sat down and leaned back.

He could hear Hammond's voice over the radio. He was excited. The ships were being destroyed. They won! They beat Anubis! Jack was tired. So tired. He wanted to sleep. He needed to sleep. His head hurt. Too much! It was all too much. He could hear Hammond's voice. Sam. He heard him say Sam. What did he say? He tried, so hard, so hard to understand.

"Jack." He heard his name. "We just received word. Your daughter was born 30 minutes ago. Sam and the baby are doing fine. Congratulations, son!" He could hear Hammond's voice. He could make out the words. His daughter was born. She and Sam were fine. They were both alive. He saved them. He saved them all!

A smile spread across Jack's face and his eyes closed, a single tear rolling down his cheek.

"Jack, Jack! Did you hear? Sam had the baby! Anubis is destroyed! We won, Jack! We won! Jack, wake up. Jack, don't die now. Sam needs you! Grace needs you! Jack!" Daniel's voice rang out through the pain in Jack's head.

Images of Sam came into his mind. The first time he met her. The look of remorse in her eyes when she reset his bone in Antarctica. Sam laying in the infirmary, flatlined after Jolinar died inside her. Sam hugging him after he killed Hathor. The uncomfortable look on her face when he kissed the alternate Sam. Sam behind a force field. The way she looked at him when he admitted his feelings during the Za'tarc test. The sad expression on her face when they discovered they weren't Jonah and Thera. The look of relief when Teal'c and he were rescued from the death glider. The disappointed look she gave him when he didn't believe her about Orlin. The look of helplessness when Daniel was dying. The happy sparkle in her eyes when he stepped off the tok'ra ship after being stranded with Maybourne. The bravery he saw in her when Niirti almost killed her. The confused and embarrassed look she had when Janet told her she was pregnant. The way she choked on her cake when he told her his intentions of being with her. The peaceful way she looked sleeping in his bed, wrapped up in his arms. The look of contentment after they made love the first time. The way she looked on their wedding day. The scared look on her face when her water broke in the gate room. The way she looked at him when he promised her he would come back……promised her……..he would come back….Sam…..Grace…….He promised……come back.

He opened his eyes and looked at Daniel. "Dormata," he whispered, weakly.

"I believe he wants us to put him in the stasis chamber," Teal'c's voice sounded from behind Daniel.

They lifted Jack from the chair and carried him over to the chamber. Standing him up inside the small space, the chamber came to life, freezing Jack in time.

At that very moment, on the other side of the planet, deep underground. A baby girl cried loudly in hunger as her mother held her close preparing to feed her for the very first time. Grace Louise O'Neill suckled, contently, on her mother's nipple, unaware that on the day she was born, her father saved the world.

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	14. Chapter 14

a/n:With this being the last chapter, I would like to thank everyone who submitted reviews. You took time out of your day to send me encouragement and praise and I am incredibly grateful to all of you! Thank you! I would also like to acknowledge all those who put this story on their favorites list or even just had it on alert. Knowing you were all enjoying the story kept me writing, so Thank you! And, of course, to all those who didn't do any of the above, but, who have still read every chapter, I would like to thank you, too! The large amounts of hits to this story is overwhelming! However, if you haven't reviewed, please review at the end of this chapter and let me know what you thought of the entire story. This is onlythe second story I've written, so your reviewsmean a lot. Okay, now that I've thanked everyone, I hope you enjoy the ending!

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"Sam, I'm just saying, I think it might do you some good to talk to MacKenzie."

"Daniel! How can you even suggest I talk to that quack? Have you completely forgotten what he did to you when Machello's goa'uld killers were inside you?" Samantha Carter-O'Neill yelled at her friend, as they stood in the sanctuary of her lab.

"That was completely different, Sam," Daniel argued back with his former teammate.

"Daniel, I'm FINE! I don't _need_ to talk to MacKenzie! I've been back to work for two months. I've been completely cleared for work for 6 weeks. _Mentally_ and physically! I don't need to talk to anyone!"

"Sam, it's been three months now," Daniel announced, in a quiet voice.

"Damn it Daniel! I _know_ how long it's been! Why are you pestering me, Daniel? You're the only one who seems to think I'm not okay?" Sam sniped at him.

"Because I know you, Sam. You threw yourself back into your work before your maternity leave was anywhere close to being over. You spend way too much time in your lab trying to figure out how to unfreeze him. The only time you don't have a haunted look in your eyes is when you're holding Grace. You've been through so much, Sam. You need to talk to someone."

"I _need_ my husband back!" Sam yelled at the unrelenting archaeologist.

"We'll get him back, Sam. But, you can't kill yourself in the process……I just want to help you, Sam," Daniel admonished, trying to talk sense into the air force major.

"Help me by figuring out how to get him back, Daniel," Sam snapped at the man and stomped out of her lab, abruptly ending their conversation.

Sam walked to the commissary to find her baby girl. She had spent a whole month going nuts in her house after Grace was born. The SGC was having no luck contacting the Asgaard and Jack was still frozen in the stasis chamber in Antarctica. Finally giving up on staying sane at home, Sam started bundling up Grace and the two of them headed into the mountain almost everyday of the week.

Dr. Weir didn't have the heart to deny Sam or Grace entrance into the base, and since she wasn't military, she easily made the decision to allow Major Carter and her daughter to do as they pleased on base.

Sam would barely make it into the mountain before someone would swoop in and snatch Grace out of her arms. At first, Sam worried about people taking her, but before long, she realized it was quite a relief to have so many 'aunts' and 'uncles' helping take care of the infant. With some one or another constantly running off with Grace, Sam was able to get quite a bit of work done in her lab. As the weeks passed, there were days on base where she would only see her daughter at feeding times.

Sam entered the commissary and immediately saw her daughter in the arms of Col. Reynolds. He was babbling incoherently to the small infant and the other marines found him quite funny as they were all laughing uncontrollably.

"Colonel," Sam greeted, approaching the marine.

"Oh, hey Sam! Grace has been a little angel. Haven't you little boo-boo, ga-ga," the normally stoic marine babbled to the baby, who immediately rewarded him by babbling back. "See! She speaks my language," Col. Reynolds announced proudly, and then handed Grace over to her mother.

"Thank you for watching her, Colonel," Sam said, cuddling her daughter in her arms.

"No sweat, Major! We had a swell time. Didn't we, girl?" he finished softly, rubbing his finger gently along the baby's chubby cheek. Even the big-bad marine had fallen in love with the cherub infant.

Sam smiled genuinely at the Colonel and said her good-byes for the day as she headed out of the base for home.

Locking Grace's car seat into the backseat, Sam hopped into Jack's truck and started it up. He had never gotten around to that mini-van and her Volvo just didn't have a lot of space, so Sam took over Jack's truck. It wasn't like he was using it at the moment!

Heading out of the mountain towards home, Sam immediately started feeling bad about yelling at Daniel. The truth was, Daniel knew her way too well! She wasn't fine. She wasn't okay. She wasn't happy. She was massively depressed. She was incredibly tired. And, she was incredibly lonely. She missed Jack! She was fully aware of that fact. She loved Grace as much as any mother could, and she was a great mom. But, when Grace was sleeping or 'visiting' with someone else, Sam was miserable. As together as she appeared at work, Sam was ripped apart once she was home and able to strip away her military façade.

Grace was always Sam's primary concern. She would spend every day at home cuddling her little girl, talking to her, telling her stories about her daddy. She told her how much her daddy loved her and how he couldn't wait to finally see her, to hold her, to kiss her.

Sam would take Grace on tours of the house, showing her each room, each picture, each important item and explaining them to her. Now that Grace was three months old, she would reply with goo's and gaa's and other baby babble, making her own contribution to the conversation.

Once Sam put Grace to bed for the night (well, for the first four hours of the night, anyways), Sam would no longer pretend to be brave and tough. Rummaging through Jack's closet, she would pull out one of his old shirts or sweaters and throw it on so she could inhale his intoxicating scent. Then, clutching the photo of their impromptu wedding, Sam would crawl under the covers of her bed and cry herself to sleep, praying for Thor to finally show up and save her husband.

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **

Sam had just gotten back to sleep after Grace's 4am feeding when the shrill cry of the phone pulled her from her dream. "Damn it, this better be important," she muttered before reaching for the phone. "Carter," she said, putting the phone to her ear.

"Major Carter, this is Dr. Weir. I'm sorry to wake you, but I thought you would like to know, SG-1 was just beamed out of this facility."

"Thor?" Sam groggily asked, trying to fight the sleep away.

"That's our guess," Weir replied.

"Jack?" Sam asked, excitement entering her voice at the thought of her husband coming home.

"So far, he's still in Antarctica. When we hear more, I will contact you immediately," Weir informed her.

"Uh, that's ok. I'll just bundle up Grace and head in now. If Thor revives Col. O'Neill, I want to be there when he returns."

"Of course, Major. I guess I'll see you when you get here," Weir replied, then hung up the phone.

Sam quickly dressed Grace and herself and headed, eagerly, to the SGC.

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **

Jack opened his eyes very slowly, the incredibly bright light adding pain to his already massive headache. "Oy! My head," he complained in a low voice.

"Jack! Jack! You're awake! Do you remember anything?" Daniel excitedly asked.

Jack looked at his friend with his usual annoyed look. "What's going on?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" Daniel interrogated.

Jack thought for a moment. "Uh, I remember getting my head sucked by that Ancient…..sucky-thing."

"O'Neill," Thor said, approaching the pod Jack was currently laying in.

"Thor, buddy. Got any aspirin?"

"Your headache will fade and your memories will return in time," Thor replied.

Jack looked around the room. "T, what's up with the hair?" he asked after seeing the always bald jaffa with a head full of hair.

Teal'c just looked at Jack, making no attempt to answer his question.

After a few more words were exchanged and Jack, once again, asked Teal'c about his hair, Jack managed to climb out of the pod. He leaned against a wall. "Where's Carter?" he asked out of habit, at not seeing his former second-in-command in the room.

Daniel and Teal'c exchanged worried glances.

Jack, seeing their glances, got frustrated. "WHAT?" he yelled at them.

"Uh, Jack, Sam hasn't gone off-world since we found out she was pregnant," Daniel stuttered out, looking with concern at his friend.

Jack looked at Daniel for several minutes with a blank expression on his face. Daniel started to say something to Jack, but Teal'c stopped him by placing his arm on the archaeologist's shoulder. "I believe O'Neill is attempting to retrieve his memories, Daniel Jackson. We should avoid interrupting him."

"Oh," Daniel replied with a confused expression as he continued to stare at his friend's blank face.

"Sam?" Jack finally spoke. "She was pregnant. Daniel, where is she?" Jack asked frantically, a scared look upon his face.

"She's at home, Jack. She's fine," Daniel answered, trying to reassure his friend.

"The baby! Did she….did she…?" Jack couldn't seem to form the words on his tongue.

"Major Carter gave birth to your daughter just before we destroyed Anubis and his fleet, O'Neill," Teal'c announced.

Jack closed his eyes as his memories assaulted his mind. He remembered sitting in the Ancient chair as Hammond's voice broke through all the Ancient muck in his head. He remembered the joy that filled his heart at hearing his daughter was born. The intense feeling of relief at hearing Sam and Grace were fine. At knowing he had saved them. He remembered the overwhelming feeling of love he felt for his wife and newborn daughter as his body and mind were frozen in the stasis chamber.

Jack opened his eyes. "How long? How long has it been?" he asked. Images of Sam raising their little girl by herself popping into his head.

"Three months," Daniel answered sheepishly, guilt still plaguing him for not getting Jack out sooner.

"Oh God," Jack groaned, covering his hands over his face. "Sam!"

"She's done a great job with Grace, Jack. She's an incredible mom," Daniel announced, trying to reassure Jack. "She misses you very much, though," he finished, remembering his conversation with Sam the day before.

Jack mumbled something incoherently and scooted his body down the wall until he was sitting on the floor. He pulled his knees up and balancing his elbows on them, buried his face back in his hands. "Three months," he mumbled to himself. "I lost three months!"

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **

Sam had been at the SGC for 36 hours. They had heard from Teal'c close to 20 hours ago when Jack was beamed aboard the 'DanielJackson', but since then, they had not heard a word from the flagship team.

Grace was not happy at all with her current surroundings and was making her feelings known. Sam had been trying to soothe the baby for the last 6 hours with no success.

Grace was incredibly cranky and Sam finally admitted that the only thing that was going to work was taking her daughter home to her familiar bed. So, after packing up her things and triple-checking with Dr. Weir that she would call Sam the second she received anything on SG-1, Sam, reluctantly, departed for home.

Grace's colic ended the second Sam carried her into their house. After feeding Grace, Sam filled up the big tub and the two enjoyed a warm bath. Grace splashed around in her mom's arms, gurgling at the bubbles and noises she was creating for a good half hour before Sam finally washed them both up.

Sam had just barely finished dressing Grace in her pajamas before the baby girl was fast asleep, completely worn out after her long hours of crying. She carried her to bed, and then, realizing she was absolutely exhausted herself, decided to take advantage of being home and crawled up in her big, cozy bed. She quickly fell asleep and dreamed of the moment she would finally be reunited with Jack.

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **

It was 0200 when Jack and the rest of SG-1 were finally beamed back to the SGC. After a quick check-up, Jack eagerly headed home. Dr. Weir had told Jack about Grace's tantrum and Jack had insisted Weir not call Sam, but, allow him to go home and surprise his wife and child.

Jack, channeling up his old black-ops training, stealthily unlocked the front door of his home and walked inside. He looked around, taking in his familiar house.

His furniture and possessions were still there, however, baby items littered the entire living area. A baby swing stood next to his favorite chair. A bouncy seat was pushed up next to his couch. A soft pink baby blanket was laying sprawled out on the middle of the living room floor with several baby toys settled on it. The normal magazines that sat on his coffee table had been replaced with nursery rhyme and picture books. A laundry basket full of baby clothes sat on his dining room table and the car seat was sitting against the wall. Jack smiled.

He was home at last!

He walked down to the nursery and quietly pushed open the door. Softly walking over to the crib, he peered over the railing and was surprised to see two tiny brown eyes staring back at him. "Goo!" Grace said to her father as he looked down on her.

"Well, hello there, Gracie," Jack whispered happily. "Have you been a good little girl for mommy while daddy's been away?"

"Goo!" Grace replied, getting excited at her late-night entertainment and waving her arms up and down.

Jack laughed softly and reached in to pick up his little girl. As he held his daughter in his arms for the first time, a single tear of happiness escaped his eye and slid down his cheek. Not even bothering to wipe it away, Jack leaned down and kissed his baby girl softly on the cheek. "We have three months of catching up ahead of us, Gracie Lou," he whispered to her as he sat down in the rocking chair.

He sat in the chair, rocking his daughter slowly while talking softly to her. She, happily, babbled back to him, which he thought was the greatest thing ever. He lifted her out of the crook in his arm and sat her on his lap so she was facing him.

"Let me get a good look at my little princess," he softly said to her as he memorized every detail of her. She had thick blonde hair that seemed to stick out in all different directions. "Well, sweetie, it looks like you got mommy's color, but, I'm afraid you've got daddy's unruly hair," he said to her while trying to smooth her hair down, with no luck.

"Ga-ga goo!" Grace exclaimed, bouncing on her father's lap. Jack laughed at her again and pulled her into a soft hug. Feeling nothing but pure love and adoration for his beautiful baby girl.

They continued to rock in the chair until Jack had finally lulled her back to sleep. He gently settled her back down into her crib and then creeped out of the room.

He was still completely overwhelmed with emotions at finally meeting his daughter when he walked into his bedroom. The excitement shooting through his veins at being home again caused him to forget about his stealth and Sam immediately sprang out of bed when he entered the room.

The room was dark when Sam awoke. The only thing she could see was the silhouette of a man standing in her bedroom. A million possibilities of who this man was in her room shot through Sam's mind. An NID agent trying to kidnap Grace? Someone from the trust? A burglar? An alien? There were so many possibilities! Sam immediately went into attack mode and launched herself out of bed.

The last thing Jack expected after his sweet encounter with Grace was being jumped by Sam. But, that is exactly what happened and he was totally unprepared for the assault.

Sam knocked him to the ground yelling something about a bastard? Jack really wasn't sure. He felt her fist connect with his jaw, once, twice, he grabbed it before she managed to get in three. Her other fist was pounding into his side. He kept grabbing for it, but the room was dark and Sam was freakishly quick.

"SAM!" he managed to yell out. "Sam, it's me! It's Jack! STOP! CARTER!"

Her fist connected one more time with his side before his voice registered in her mind.

"Jack?" she asked, a quiver in her voice as her body slowly started to relax into his.

"Yes, it's me, it's me," he repeated, letting go of her hand and cupping her face. He pulled her closer to him and pressed his own face against hers. "I'm home," he told her softly, and then wrapped his arms around her, pulling her completely into his body.

"Oh Jack," Sam cried, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tight. She turned her face into his neck and inhaled deeply. The smell of her husband seeping into every pore of her body. "Oh Jack," she cried again.

They stayed that way as the sun started to rise and cast an eerie glow into the bedroom. Finally being able to see her, Jack cupped Sam's face and stared lovingly at his gorgeous wife. He leaned in and captured her lips in a delicate kiss. "I love you," he softly stated when he finally pulled away from her mouth.

"I love you, too," she answered just as softly and captured his lips again. "I'm so happy you're back. We've missed you…..Three months……"

"I know, I know," he said, cutting her off as he began kissing his way down her neck. "I promise to make up every second to you."

"_Every_ second?" Sam asked seductively as her hands wandered up the back of Jack's shirt.

Jack growled. "Oh, yes, _every_ second!" he answered, gently pushing his wife back into bed.

-**-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **

Sam woke up to a very bright bedroom, the smell of coffee and an all-way-too-quiet house. Grace always woke her up hours before now.

Sam rolled over and the smell of Jack wafted into her nose. She inhaled once again as her face broke out into a huge smile. They had made love as the sun rose. Letting out the last three months of pent-up emotions in a whirlwind of passion. She had fallen asleep wrapped up in his arms, at peace for the first time in months. Her perfect life, once again, falling into place.

She sat up in bed and wondered what Jack and Grace were doing. Climbing out of bed and dressing after a quick stop to the bathroom, Sam quietly walked through the house, looking for her family.

The nursery door was open a crack and she peeked her head in. Jack was laying on a blanket on the floor with Grace laid beside him in the crook of his arm. The blinds were closed, causing the room to be dark. Jack was pointing to the fiber optic lights on the ceiling and explaining each constellation to Grace. Grace, totally enthralled by the attention, babbled along with her daddy.

Sam giggled at the door.

"You finally woke up," he said, arching his head to look at her.

"Yeah. How's she doing?" Sam asked, nodding her head towards Gracie.

"Great! She's so amazing, Sam. She definitely takes after you," Jack exclaimed excitedly, pulling his little girl closer to him. "I fed her one of the bottles in the fridge. That was okay, right?" he asked, a slightly worried look on his face.

"Yeah," Sam answered, smiling and laying down next to him on the floor.

Jack wrapped his other arm around Sam and pulled both his girls closer to him. "I know it's a cliché, but I am definitely the luckiest man in the world," He said, kissing his daughter and then his wife on their heads.

"And, I am the luckiest woman," Sam responded, rubbing her hand up and down Jack's chest and cuddling into his side.

"Ga!" Grace added.

"Are you happy da-da's home, Gracie?" Sam asked her baby girl.

"Da!" Grace answered, amazing both her parents into speechlessness.

"OhmyGod!" Sam exclaimed, seconds later. "She's never said that before!"

"Well, I take it she's happy to have her da-da home," Jack laughed, kissing Grace on the head again. He was pretty sure that at this very moment in time, no one else anywhere, could be as happy as he was.

"DA!" Grace said again, louder. Excited over her parents' reaction to her new word.

"Like I said, luckiest man in the world," Jack exclaimed again.

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Grace Louise O'Neill sat on her Grandpa Jacob's lap in her pretty dress, mesmerized by all the people in the room. The 9-month old looked at her mommy and daddy at the front of the room. She had no idea what was going on or what was being said, but she could tell everyone was happy and excited, so she was too.

The Pastor spoke at the front of the room, "Brigadier General Jonathon O'Neill, do you take Lt. Col. Samantha Carter to be your wife, to have and to hold………………….."

The entire church, especially all the members of the SGC, exploded in applause and "hoorays," when the pastor announced, "You may kiss the Bride."

Jack and Sam walked hand in hand, down the aisle, stopping in front of Jacob and scooping up Gracie on their way. Jack held his little girl in one arm and his wife in the other. "I've said it before, and I will probably say it for the rest of my life, I am the luckiest man in the world."

Jack walked out of the church with his wife and daughter, heading towards their mini-van the marines had decorated with balloons and confetti. Turning to Grace in his arms, he asked her, "So, Gracie Lou, what do you think about a little brother?"

**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **

The End!


End file.
